Hollywood is in big trouble at the box office, and the numbers aren’t great at all.
The Hollywood Reporter reported the following Monday:
Through Sunday, revenue at the North American box office was an estimated $2.74 billion, the lowest showing since 2013 for the comparable time period, according to Comscore.
That’s down 17% from the same corridor in 2018 — when Black Panther opened — and 18% from 2017, home of winter and early spring hits Beauty and the Beast and Logan, among other titles.
The big question now is whether the box office can rebound and surpass the record $11.9 billion collected domestically in 2018, and an all-time best $41.7 billion globally.
These numbers aren’t great at all. There’s just no spin zone at all here. If you’re a person in Hollywood writing checks, you have to be concerned right now.
This new report comes only a couple months after it was reported that winter revenue, on the whole, was at a decade low. (RELATED: Hollywood Box Office Revenue For Winter Hits Near Decade Low)
People just aren’t rushing out to the theaters like they used to. Maybe it’s because there just haven’t been great movies recently.
For example, I thought “Serenity” with Matthew McConaughey was going to be incredible. Spoiler alert: it sucked.
The other problem for Hollywood — and it’s one that isn’t going away anytime soon — is the fact that streaming has become so damn popular. Why rush out to the theater to pay money to watch a movie when you can stream outstanding content from the comfort of your home?
I’m a huge movie fan, and I still go to the theater more than the average person. Having said that, I’ve noticed my standard for leaving the house for a film has gotten substantially higher. I better be excited enough to leave the comfort of my own home to watch a movie that will be available to stream just a few months after its release.
The streaming options are just too good to pay for a mediocre film. Look no further than “The Highwaymen” on Netflix for an example of that:
I wish I had the answers for Hollywood, but I don’t. I’m not overly optimistic that they get it turned around anytime soon.