So anyway, have you been going to your hometown movie theater lately? From Box Office Mojo, here are the figures by year for the USA.
Year | Total Gross | %± LY | Releases | Average | #1 Release |
|---|
| $443,497,461 | +290.6% | 9 | $49,277,495 | Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope |
| $826,413,013 | +86.3% | 13 | $63,570,231 | Grease |
| $1,229,428,453 | +48.8% | 40 | $30,735,711 | Superman |
| $1,642,400,771 | +33.6% | 68 | $24,152,952 | Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back |
| $898,686,960 | -45.3% | 56 | $16,047,981 | Superman II |
| $3,001,761,432 | +234% | 132 | $22,740,616 | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial |
| $2,738,195,414 | -8.8% | 149 | $18,377,150 | Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi |
| $3,066,288,000 | +12% | 169 | $18,143,715 | Ghostbusters |
| $3,017,379,323 | -1.6% | 191 | $15,797,797 | Back to the Future |
| $3,065,297,715 | +1.6% | 201 | $15,250,237 | Top Gun |
| $3,343,230,996 | +9.1% | 226 | $14,793,057 | Beverly Hills Cop II |
| $3,542,179,944 | +6% | 239 | $14,820,836 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
| $4,084,060,815 | +15.3% | 235 | $17,378,982 | Batman |
| $4,326,824,577 | +5.9% | 236 | $18,334,002 | Ghost |
| $4,336,073,530 | +0.2% | 253 | $17,138,630 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day |
| $4,519,644,026 | +4.2% | 247 | $18,298,153 | Batman Returns |
| $4,823,116,106 | +6.7% | 267 | $18,064,105 | Jurassic Park |
| $5,061,909,583 | +5% | 259 | $19,544,052 | The Lion King |
| $5,106,129,264 | +0.9% | 291 | $17,546,835 | Batman Forever |
| $5,600,750,973 | +9.7% | 306 | $18,303,107 | Independence Day |
| $6,077,250,085 | +8.5% | 310 | $19,604,032 | Men in Black |
| $6,696,278,852 | +10.2% | 334 | $20,048,739 | Titanic |
| $7,340,708,198 | +9.6% | 448 | $16,385,509 | Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace |
| $7,476,224,972 | +1.8% | 439 | $17,030,125 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas |
| $7,959,296,828 | +6.5% | 412 | $19,318,681 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone |
| $9,164,913,438 | +15.2% | 570 | $16,078,795 | Spider-Man |
| $9,232,953,228 | +0.7% | 667 | $13,842,508 | Finding Nemo |
| $9,354,636,012 | +1.3% | 700 | $13,363,765 | Shrek 2 |
| $8,833,618,311 | -5.6% | 676 | $13,067,482 | Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith |
| $9,203,041,941 | +4.2% | 746 | $12,336,517 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest |
| $9,679,019,852 | +5.2% | 775 | $12,489,057 | Spider-Man 3 |
| $9,652,648,585 | -0.3% | 725 | $13,313,998 | The Dark Knight |
| $10,615,886,283 | +10% | 646 | $16,433,260 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen |
| $10,585,388,159 | -0.3% | 651 | $16,260,196 | Avatar |
| $10,155,695,359 | -4.1% | 731 | $13,892,880 | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 |
| $10,843,641,372 | +6.8% | 807 | $13,436,978 | The Avengers |
| $10,955,524,800 | +1% | 826 | $13,263,347 | Iron Man 3 |
| $10,368,861,849 | -5.4% | 849 | $12,213,029 | Guardians of the Galaxy |
| $11,148,780,747 | +7.5% | 845 | $13,193,823 | Jurassic World |
| $11,375,225,455 | +2% | 855 | $13,304,357 | Finding Dory |
| $11,075,387,520 | -2.6% | 854 | $12,968,837 | Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi |
| $11,892,160,011 | +7.4% | 993 | $11,975,991 | Black Panther |
| $11,363,360,031 | -4.4% | 910 | $12,487,208 | Avengers: Endgame |
| $2,113,846,800 | -81.4% | 456 | $4,635,628 | Bad Boys for Life |
| $4,483,010,556 | +112.1% | 441 | $10,165,556 | Spider-Man: No Way Home |
| $7,369,521,886 | +64.4% | 499 | $14,768,580 | Top Gun: Maverick |
| $8,908,261,473 | +20.9% | 589 | $15,124,382 | Barbie |
| $3,167,381,317 | - | 317 | $9,991,739 | Dune: Part Two |
A few noteworthy points:
- While 2023 had 589 new films, 1977 had only 9. Except that I looked at another site, and it had a list of 35 films for 1977. So what is the truth? Well, 35 is still less than 10% of the past quarter century, and less than 4% of 2018 when 993 new films were released.
- In 1978, each film averaged gross revenues of $63,570,231, or in 2024 dollars, a value of $297,000,000.
- In 2023, each film averaged $15,123,382, or 4 times less than in 1978. However, when you consider that the revenues of 1978 should be inflation-enhanced to $297,000,00, the films of 1978 made nearly 20 times more than those of 2023.
- From 2015 to 2019, grosses of from $11 million to $12 million.
- Then the pandemic came, and the 2010 gross dropped to only a little more than $2 million.
- Better in 2022 and 2023, but 2024 seems be plateauing, and could end up lower than 2023. The gross/film is now less than $10 million, the second worst since 1977 to the $4.6 million of the prime pandemic year, 2020. The Hollywood strike hurt.
- Global cinema admissions dropped from 7.9 billion in 2018 to 1.9 billion in 2020 and 2021.
- The forecast is 7.2 billion in 2027.
- 2023.
| Rank | Title | Distributor | Worldwide gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barbie | Warner Bros. | $1,445,638,421 |
| 2 | The Super Mario Bros. Movie | Universal | $1,361,992,475 |
| 3 | Oppenheimer | $976,148,584 | |
| 4 | Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 | Disney | $845,555,777 |
| 5 | Fast X | Universal | $714,582,375 |
| 6 | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | Sony | $690,897,910 |
| 7 | Full River Red | China Film | $634,631,282 |
| 8 | Wonka | Warner Bros. | $632,302,312 |
| 9 | The Wandering Earth 2 | China Film | $604,460,538 |
| 10 | The Little Mermaid | Disney | $569,626,289 |
The U.S. is continuing to lose ground to the world. They already have higher revenues than the domestic gross. China overtook the USA in 2020, and this difference is growing. Through some averaging by FlixPatrol:
COUNTRY GDP Per Capita Population Tickets Box Office Revenues
(all in millions.......) (billions)
2026
End of 2027
- USA $63,051 328.2 1.1 $10.3
- China $17,206 1,400.0 1.7 9.3
- Japan $43,194 136.0 0.2 2.4
- France $45,454 67.1 0.2 1.6
- India $ 6,283 1,352.6 1.6 1.6
- S Korea $44,292 51.7 0.2 1.6
- UK $46,827 67.9 0.2 1.6
- Germany $53,571 83.2 0.2 1.3
- Canada $52.144 38.0 0.1 1.0
Global cinema admissions won't rebound even by 2027, according to accounting firm PwW.
- World admissions will reach 7.2 billion in 2027, but this was 7.9 billion in 2019.
- But revenues will reach pre-pandemic levels of $46.5 billion by 2025, and further grow to $52.1 billion in 2027.
- China will lead the world in 2027 with revenues of $13.2 billion.
- The U.S. is forecasted to reach $11.9 billion in 2027, about what it was in 2018.
- China banning film can hurt today.
- Began in 1923 with The Ten Commandments.
- The 1931 Frankenstein, 1933 Alice in Wonderland, etc.
- However, Marvel worked out differences with China.
- Only a few newer films remain unavailable.
- Barbie and Oppenheimer had initial problems, but they are now being shown in China. These are the most recent films I've seen in a movie theater during the opening weekend of Barbenheimer.
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Plan to go to Japan? Have you been watching the Yen vs Dollar conversion?
- Waddled between 100 and 110 Yen to the Dollar for two years, then began climbing in March 2022, hitting 150 in October.
- Dropped below 130 in January of 2023.
- Back up to 150 in November of 2023.
- Dipped down to 140 at the end of last year.
- On April 29 reached 160.
- Today, still around 159.
- However, if you look back to 1971.
- Going backwards, was at the 150+ range in the late 80s, then zoomed up to 250 in the mid to early 80s, then shot up to 300 in the 70s, and finally 350+ in 1971.
- However, dropped to 75 in 2011.
- Should you buy Japanese Yen today, anticipating a drop?
- Here are projections. The first table is for the rest of 2024.
| Month | Open, ¥ | Low-High, ¥ | Close, ¥ | Total,% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June | 157 | 154 - 163 | 159 | 0.6% |
| July | 159 | 157 - 166 | 164 | 3.8% |
| August | 164 | 163 - 167 | 165 | 4.4% |
| September | 165 | 165 - 172 | 169 | 7.0% |
| October | 169 | 169 - 177 | 174 | 10.1% |
| November | 174 | 166 - 174 | 169 | 7.0% |
| December | 169 | 163 - 169 | 165 | 4.4% |
| Month | Open, ¥ | Low-High, ¥ | Close, ¥ | Total,% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 165 | 165 - 171 | 168 | 6.3% |
| February | 168 | 168 - 175 | 172 | 8.9% |
| March | 172 | 172 - 179 | 176 | 11.4% |
| April | 176 | 171 - 177 | 174 | 10.1% |
| May | 174 | 174 - 182 | 179 | 13.3% |
| June | 179 | 179 - 186 | 183 | 15.8% |
| July | 183 | 183 - 191 | 188 | 19.0% |
| August | 188 | 180 - 188 | 183 | 15.8% |
| September | 183 | 183 - 191 | 188 | 19.0% |
| October | 188 | 184 - 190 | 187 | 18.4% |
| November | 187 | 178 - 187 | 181 | 14.6% |
| December | 181 | 173 - 181 | 176 | 11.4% |
| Year | Agency | Minimum, ¥ | Maximum, ¥ |
| 2027 | LongForecast | 204 | 225 |
| 2028 | LongForecast | 209 | 220 |
| 2027 | WalletInvestor | 195.915 | 211.170 |
| 2028 | WalletInvestor | 211.197 | 226.488 |
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I don't plan to return to Japan until the Spring of 2026, for the travel blossoms, and, more so, the Osako Expo. But if the Yen to Dollar exchange rate zooms up to 200, maybe there will be more. On the down side, fewer Japanese will travel away to places like Hawaii, so our local economy will suffer for a couple more years, at least.
Speaking of travel, here is Time magazine's recommendation for the 15 best movies to watch on a plane:
- Hit Man: I just reviewed this film yesterday.
- Little Miss Sunshine: an oldie, Rotten Tomatoes scores of 91/91. Read something from my posting of 7 years ago:
This list of ten places ends with Alan Arkin as Grandpa Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine, Rotten Tomatoes scores of 84/79. And while we're here, you've got to watch that final dance scene. In fact, here are more dance scenes, 13 minutes and 48 seconds to make your day.
- Notting Hill: This film was released in 1991. Again, from one of my postings:
I fell into my subject of the day because during the past ten days--dominated by the Tokyo Summer Olympics--I actually watched only the finish of several films, one of them coincidentally, yet purposefully, twice. Since July 23 not once have I gone to Netflix or Prime.
Flipping around channels, I saw left was 20 minutes of the 1999 Notting Hill, given 83/79 scores by Rotten Tomatoes. What a happy ending. No need for details, except it starred Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. You either saw it or not, liked it or not.
I can keep doing this all day, so will stop here. Go to this article to see the rest.
Taylor Swift's Eras Tour is in London. at Wembley Stadium. Prince William and his two eldest children, Prince George (10) and Princess Charlotte (9). Wife Kate remains in a tenuous medical state. Of course, Travis Kelce was there. Oh, The Prince of Wales was celebrating his 42nd birthday. They went backstage and took some photos, including a selfie, which appeared on Instagram.
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