In 2022, the curtain came to an end in the movie-watching boom led by "Avatar: The Way of Water".
Driven by strong files such as summer and Christmas, the annual total box office in North America rebounded by more than 60% year-on-year, ranking firmly in the world's largest film market and becoming the number one engine for the accelerated recovery of global cinemas.
The recovery of the theater line is lagging behind, and the progress of the strong film driving is uneven
According to IMDbPro statistics, the total box office in North America closed at $7.368 billion last year, an increase of 64% over the previous year's $4.483 billion, achieving a sharp recovery for two consecutive years and ranking firmly in the world's largest film market; However, compared with the $11.363 billion in 2019, the output of North American theaters has only recovered to about 64.8%, which is still far from the peak.
This is closely related to the fact that the pace of new film release has not yet fully warmed up. In 2022, a total of 491 films will be released in North American theaters, similar to the 439 and 456 films in the previous two years, but only slightly more than half of 2019 (910), which shows that there is still room for improvement in the investment of Hollywood studios, and also highlights that in the context of the rise of streaming media channels, the position of the big screen in the film distribution network is still dynamically changing:
Huge spending on special effects blockbusters continue to stick to the exclusive window period of theatrical releases, but small and medium-cost projects are more open to switching to online platforms, which will become a potential constraint to further recovery of offline distribution in the future.
With the total number of films below normal years, the average box office of a single film rose to more than $15 million last year, the highest value since 2010.
From the perspective of monthly box office, North American theaters in 2022 show the characteristics of "high in the middle and low at both ends". From January to April, the monthly box office increased by 498%, 533%, 418% and 193% year-on-year, but this is mainly because the base in 2021 is too low, and if compared with 2019, it is only about five to six percent. After the opening of the summer season, the recovery momentum of the North American box office is more rapid, not only maintaining a rate of at least doubling year-on-year, but also approaching the peak revenue, from May to July equivalent to 73%, 84% and 88% of 2019 respectively, the efficiency of theater gold absorption was no different from normal years.
However, since August, as Hollywood studios have suspended the release of special effects giants, North American box sales have experienced a significant decline, and even September, October and December have all experienced year-on-year declines, and the entire fourth quarter is 14% lower than the previous year, and only more than 61% in the same period in 2019. In general, the summer file driven by a number of strong films is blowing out, but in addition, it relies more on a single project to support the market, and the slightly thin release density still seriously delays the recovery progress of the theater line.
According to The-Numbers, a total of 8 films will exceed $300 million at the North American box office in 2022, equaling 2017 and second to 2019 (10) and 2016 (9), the third highest figure in history; Among them, the hit films that sold 400 million US dollars also reached 4, the same as in 2017 and 2018, only less than the 6 films in 2019, tied for the second place in film history.
But more high-grossing films have not benefited the overall theaters, with only 17 films breaking $100 million in 2022, ranking 23rd in all statistically available years, less than half of the highest record of 35 in 2013. After the gold-absorbing efficiency of special effects giants has basically recovered, the medium-weight films that form the foundation of the market have not been fully filled, which will be the focus of film market observation in the new year.
From the perspective of Hollywood studios, Universal topped the list with a market share of US$1.554 billion or 20.83%, with a total of 22 films released (including 2021 releases or classic re-releases), also ahead of all studios. Disney and Paramount ranked in the top three with $1.356 billion (18.18%) and $1.306 billion (17.50%), which is also Paramount's best position since 2011.
Of course, 20th Century Pictures, which has been acquired and renamed by Disney, also received $590 million (7.91%), ranking 6th after Warner Bros. and Sony. It is worth mentioning that the popular A24 has risen to become the backbone of Hollywood independent film companies after the traditional "six" labels with 124 million US dollars.
The blockbuster sequel ignites feelings, and Marvel's ability to attract gold is undiminished
The accelerated recovery of the North American box office in 2022 depends on the driving role of many strong films in different schedules.
"Top Gun: The Lone Ranger", which broke records throughout the summer, took the lead and became the phenomenon that swept the global big screen last year. After 36 years of eagerly awaited by thousands of fans, "Top Gun: The Lone Ranger" led by Tom Cruise debuted at the end of May, breaking the record in film history with a huge screening scale of 4,735 theaters. "Top Gun: The Lone Ranger" earned more than $126 million in its first weekend and $161 million in a four-day vacation on Memorial Day, breaking the 15-year schedule record held by Pirates of the Caribbean 3: World's End.
Heading into the following week, "Top Gun: The Lone Ranger" fell only 29% to $90.04 million, the smallest drop among all films that premiered more than 100 million. Although many strong films have since hit the big screen, "Top Gun: The Lone Ranger" has always stayed within the top 6 of the weekend, and magically returned to the top of the list during the "Labor Day" holiday in early September, becoming the first film in decades to win again after 15 weeks of release, replicating the "miracle" of 1986's Top Gun reaching the top in week 19.
After the final round of screenings in early December, the cumulative box office of "Top Gun: The Lone Ranger" was fixed at more than 718 million US dollars, ranking 5th in the overall list of history. In addition to North America, "Top Gun: The Lone Ranger" has also set off a movie-watching boom around the world, ranking first in the United Kingdom, Japan and Australia and other countries, highlighting the personal appeal of "Beautiful Soup" radiating different markets, so the global box office soared to 1.488 billion US dollars, becoming the strongest engine to promote the recovery of summer cinemas.
After entering the year-end holiday file, another blockbuster sequel that haunted the souls of countless movie fans ignited the film market as scheduled. On December 16, "Avatar: The Way of Water" directed by James Cameron landed in North American theaters, setting a new director's personal record with $134 million in the first weekend. Under the double squeeze of Christmas Eve and the snowstorm in central America, "Avatar: The Way of Water" fell 53% to $63.34 million the following week, which once made the outside world doubt the endurance of the new "Card God" work.
But that concern soon proved superfluous: Avatar: The Way of Water closed at more than $20 million a single day from Monday to Thursday, and rebounded 6% to $67.41 million in the third weekend, a special effects blockbuster in recent years. By the end of the year, "Avatar: The Way of Water" had exceeded $400 million in North America, ranking 4th in the overall list of films in 2022. As of January 2 this year, the cumulative cumulative increase of "Avatar: The Way of Water" has further risen to more than 446 million US dollars, and it will be followed by 600 million US dollars.
At the same time, "Avatar: The Way of Water" has also set off a movie-watching frenzy around the world, and the revenue outside the country has approached $1 billion, so the global box office has skyrocketed to more than $1.443 billion, about to surpass "Top Gun: The Lone Ranger" to the top of the annual list. As "Avatar: The Way of Water" gradually gets better, it is expected to move closer to "Spider-Man: Homeless" ($1.91 billion).
In addition to the sequel blessed by the two major feelings, the global theater line is still supported by the "Marvel Cinematic Universe", which once again confirms the gold-absorbing ability of the strongest series in film history. From "Doctor Strange 2: Runaway Multiverse" in May, to "Thor 4: Love and Thunder" in July, to "Black Panther: Long Live Wakanda" in November, all Marvel movies have grossed at least $340 million in North America, and the global box office has fallen at $760 million to $950 million, becoming a regular on the annual rankings of major markets in the world.
More importantly, even if "Top Gun: The Lone Ranger" and "Avatar: The Way of Water" sell again, after all, they are limited by the personal output of the protagonist or director, but the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" maintains a stable output of 3 to 4 films per year, highlighting the strong control of Marvel President Kevin Feige. In the foreseeable future, the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" will be the highlight of the global big screen.
Of course, there are many films worth mentioning in various dimensions in 2022: the biopic "Elvis" exceeded $150 million in North America, and the world also earned $286 million, becoming the leader in feature films in the past three years; in the horror camp, Jordan Peele's "No" sold for $123 million locally, and the ultra-low-cost "Dangerous Laughter" also exceeded 100 million after being transferred from streaming media to the big screen, highlighting the stable output ability of this genre.
The word-of-mouth film "Instantaneous Universe" started from 10 theaters, expanded all the way to more than 2,000 and accumulated more than 70 million US dollars, not only becoming the top box office in the history of A24, but also allowing Michelle Yeoh to lead the heroine category in the awards season, highlighting the inclusiveness of North American audiences to various themes.
It is worth mentioning that the commercial blockbusters represented by "Top Gun: The Lone Ranger" have risen in the Oscars, and the super high reputation has become a strong guarantee for the "Best Picture" award: the freshness of Rotten Tomatoes and the popcorn index of "Top Gun: The Lone Ranger" have exceeded 90%, which has only been achieved by "Spider-Man: Homeless" in recent years. The last time the North American box office champion won the "Best Picture" statuette was "The Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King" released in 2003, and before that it was "Titanic" created by "Card God" in 1997. 1/4 century later, "Top Gun: The Lone Ranger", also produced by Paramount and led by "Beautiful Soup", is once again on the battlefield, and the final result is undoubtedly interesting.