2019 recorded the highest ever box office revenue, globally.
Despite the growing number of streaming platforms in 2019 (Disney+, Apple TV Plus, HBO Max etc.), joining such established players as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, it would appear that the notion of the movie industry being in the doldrums is completely misguided.
Comscore data shows that 2019’s worldwide box-office takings were at an all-time high of $42.5bn (+2% YoY), despite a mixed performance from North America. 2019 was also the first time that international box office revenue (excluding North America) exceeded $30bn.
The North American box office recorded $11.4bn in revenue – its fifth straight year above $11bn and its second-biggest year ever at the box office.
Comscore writes that growth was seen in most of the major international territories including China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, France, Russia and Spain. The firm adds that global audiences continued to “increase their appetite for movie theatres and the movie-going experience.”
Despite North America being down year on year, it was still the second-best annual box office revenue in history.
Comscore added that, "Given the level of competition from a plethora of options across multiple platforms on an incalculable number of devices, it should be heartening to the industry that 2019 delivered the second-best annual box office revenue in history.“
The top-ten movies globally for 2019 in terms of box office revenue were
Avengers: Endgame ($2.79bn),
The Lion King ($1.66bn),
Frozen 2 ($1.44bn),
Spider-Man: Far From Home ($1.13bn),
Captain Marvel ($1.13bn),
Toy Story 4 ($1.07bn),
Joker ($1.07bn),
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker ($1.07bn),
Aladdin ($1.05bn) and
Jumanji: The Next Level ($779.7mn). Meanwhile, in North America, the box office takings of the top-five movies were as follows:
Avengers: Endgame ($2.79bn),
The Lion King ($1.66bn),
Frozen 2 ($1.44bn),
Spider-Man: Far From Home ($1.13bn), and
Captain Marvel ($1.13bn).
The Walt Disney Co. (Disney) was by far the biggest winner among the major studios, with its global box office takings coming in at $11.1bn – a 26%-plus worldwide market share. In North America, Disney also had a 33% market share. We note that these figures exclude any titles from 20th Century Fox, which is now part of Disney.
Written exclusively for Moore South Africa by
Anchor Capital