Despite the ongoing pandemic, the global box office revenue for October 2021 is only four percent less than a three-year average of 2017 to 2019. 2019 was a big year in movies and saw the release of major films including Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood, Joker, Parasite, Hobbs and Shaw, 1917, and Knives Out. 2020 was shaping up to be a similarly prominent year for movies, but in March, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic effectively put everything on hold.
Movie theaters across North America and around the world closed to help slow the spread of the virus, which led to plummeting box office returns and the delay of a handful of tentpole films. Not only were theatrical releases delayed to allow for the safe return of larger audiences to theaters, but the production of films became more complicated, more dangerous, and more expensive, which led to several large productions being put on hold. Although many previously affected films have now been released, titles like Dune, No Time To Die, Black Widow, In the Heights, Jungle Cruise, West Side Story, and Top Gun: Maverick were all slated to be released in 2020 before being delayed due to the pandemic.
A new report from THR reveals that, while 2020 was a historically poor year for box office revenue, October of 2021 has been substantially better, falling only four percent behind a three-year average of 2017 to 2019. The box office revenue for October is currently expected to hit $3.2 billion, 30 percent higher than original predictions. The bump in revenue is largely attributed to No Time To Die, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and China's The Battle at Lake Changjin.
Since China now has the world's largest movie-going market, The Battle at Lake Changjin, although largely unseen by Western audiences, had a profound impact on global box office revenue, with China alone expected to pull in $7.3 billion this year. The exceptional box office performance in October 2021 caused experts to re-evaluate their previous forecasts, with the total global box office revenue now expected to hit $21.6 billion, instead of the previously predicted $20.2. This new forecast would put 2021 80 percent ahead of 2020, but would still fall nearly 49 percent behind the total amount for 2019.
The upward trend in box office revenue suggests that the theatrical experience is still far from dead. Despite the ongoing pandemic, higher vaccination rates and stringent theater safety measures have evidently resulted in higher numbers of people feeling comfortable enough to make the trip out to theaters to see major films like No Time To Die and Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Dune has already exceeded box office expectations and other tentpoles like Eternals, Last Night in Soho, and Spider-Man: No Way Home have yet to release this year, but will likely prove to be big draws for audiences. If these films also exceed expectations, perhaps global box office revenue will in fact beat the currently predicted $21.6 billion. If these trends are anything to go by, 2022 may see box office revenue start to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Source: THR