took a bit of a hit in 2024. The annual domestic box office is expected to end up at around $8.75 billion, down more than 3% from 2023, according to estimates from Comscore.
It鈥檚 not as dire as it was in the pandemic years, but it鈥檚 also not even close to the pre-pandemic norm when the annual box office regularly surpassed $11 billion.
This is the year the business felt the effects of the , the labor standoff that delayed productions and releases and led to a depleted calendar for exhibitors and moviegoers. And yet it鈥檚 not as bad as it could have been, or at least as bad as analysts projected at the start of the year.
鈥淭his has been a really incredible comeback story for the industry,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. 鈥淛ust a couple of months ago it was a question of whether we would even hit $8 billion for the year.鈥�
Hollywood continues to learn lessons about what moviegoers really want, what works and what doesn鈥檛. Here are the biggest takeaways from 2024.
The strike fallout was real
The Hollywood strikes might have ended in 2023, putting productions back into full swing and sending stars out on the promotional circuit again 鈥� but the ripple effect of the work stoppages and contract standoffs showed their real effects on the 2024 release calendar.
The first two quarters were hit hardest, with tentpoles pushed later in the year (鈥淒eadpool & Wolverine,鈥� for one) or even into 2025 (like 鈥淢ission: Impossible 8鈥�). With no Marvel movie kicking off the , the box office was down a devastating 27.5% from 2023 right before .
鈥淚t鈥檚 an unpredictable business but it thrives on stability,鈥� Dergarabedian said. 鈥淲hen the release calendar is thrown off, the momentum stops.鈥�
The PG rating (and animation) ruled
Sequels and franchises dominated the top 10 movies of the year, as has often been the case in the past 15 years. But this year, films carrying a PG rating did especially well, starting with the biggest movie of 2024: which also became the biggest animated movie of all time, not accounting for inflation.
Family films with a PG rating 鈥� including 鈥淜ung Fu Panda 4,鈥� 鈥淪onic the Hedgehog 3,鈥� and 鈥� grossed over $2.9 billion this year, accounting for around 33% of the annual box office, according to Comscore. Movies rated PG-13, by contrast, made up about 30% of ticket sales.
The Disney impact
After a quieter 2023 and several years without a film at the very top of the charts, the Walt Disney Co. came back roaring in 2024 with three of the top five movies of the year: "Inside Out 2,鈥� 鈥淒eadpool & Wolverine鈥� and 鈥淢oana 2.鈥� In mid-December, it crossed the $2 billion domestic mark, the second time any studio has done so since 2019 (that was also Disney, in 2022). Its 20th Century division also played an important part with 鈥淎lien: Romulus鈥� and
鈥淚t鈥檚 a different industry when Disney commits to theatrical releases,鈥� said Daniel Loria, an executive at the movie data and analytics trade The Boxoffice Company.
Looking at 鈥榝lops鈥� a different way
Every year has high-profile flops and disappointments, and this was no exception. Sony had a rough go with its 鈥淪pider-Man鈥� adjacent titles like and (but this also seems to be the fate lately for anyone not named 鈥淒eadpool鈥�). Universal had higher hopes for as did Warner Bros. for and
Then there were the filmmaker-driven (and financed) passion projects that failed to take off like Kevin Costner鈥檚 and
鈥淚t鈥檚 a reductive way of thinking about those passion projects,鈥� Loria said. 鈥淭hose movies didn鈥檛 come out with huge expectations, meaning theaters didn鈥檛 clear out the house and give them three auditoriums per site in hopes for money to come in.鈥�
This was, however, part of the problem with 鈥淛oker 2,鈥� which was expected to be more in line with the first which made over $1 billion. But even that has a caveat, Loria thinks.
鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 just that 鈥楯oker鈥� didn鈥檛 perform, it鈥檚 that there was nothing coming in behind it to make up that momentum,鈥� Loria said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 more the fault of a release schedule where one movie is supposed to carry a month. That model doesn鈥檛 work anymore.鈥�
Audiences crave options and a diverse lineup
What does work, Loria said, is a diverse lineup, with the Thanksgiving and Christmas successes being the perfect example. At Thanksgiving, Christmas had 鈥淢ufasa,鈥� 鈥淪onic 3,鈥� and a lot of adult offerings too, including 鈥淣osferatu,鈥� 鈥淎 Complete Unknown鈥� and 鈥淏abygirl.鈥�
Horror is often the safest bet for theatrical, but this year had even veterans pleasantly surprised by just how enthusiastic that audience can be, with hits like 鈥淟onglegs,鈥� 鈥淣osferatu,鈥� 鈥淭errifier 3鈥� and 鈥淪mile 2鈥� getting people out of the house.
The Blake Lively drama 鈥淚t Ends With Us," which had its share of as well, also became an event. Audiences turned out for smart thrillers, like as well as unexpected originals including and
Nostalgia and the allure of a re-release
Re-releases of movies in theaters that are also widely available in the home thrived this year. Some of the biggest successes included Christopher Nolan's
鈥淚t just shows our industry once again that audiences truly understand the difference between a communal, big screen theatrical experience that they crave even on films that they鈥檝e had the opportunities to see in the home,鈥� 鈥淭hat theatrical experience that we all know and love is so powerful and so exciting. It鈥檚 a very clear demonstration of it."
Viral marketing moments
As silly as it sounds, this is the year the novelty popcorn bucket became a star. It started with the accidentally suggestive , which 鈥淒eadpool & Wolverine鈥� latched onto in a less accidental way. More recently, the 鈥淣osferatu鈥� coffin buckets have been fetching high resale prices.
For Loria, it鈥檚 all that theaters have been noticing since reopening during the pandemic: Moviegoers aren鈥檛 back in pre-pandemic numbers, but those who did come back were spending more on concessions and premium tickets (like IMAX and other large format screens) than ever before.
2025 looks bright
Everyone is optimistic for the film business in 2025, and the offerings for moviegoers 鈥� which include at least 110 films projected to open on over 2,000 screens 鈥� according to the National Association of Theatre Owners. And the momentum is there.
鈥淭here's been a huge amount of box office generated in the last six weeks of the year,鈥� Dergarabedian said. 鈥淭his is the best opening act 2025 could have.鈥�
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
