The 2021 Box Office Is Already Projected To Finish 80% Ahead Of 2020
2020 was, without exaggeration, downright apocalyptic for the movie business. The pandemic took its toll on a great many industries, and there were certainly more important things to focus on last year than heading to a theater to see "Tenet." That said, the impact on a business that employs a great many people cannot be understated. To make matters worse, the recovery was slow-going in the early months of 2021. But today brings some good news for anyone who values the theatrical experience, be it from the side of business or pleasure.
As reported by Deadline, Gower Street Analytics now predicts that the 2021 global box office will top out between $21.6 and $22 billion. Should that prove true, it will put the year's total 80% above 2020, when ticket sales topped out at just $12.4 billion. Last year, not a single movie topped $500 million globally, with the China release "The Eight Hundred" raking in the most with $461.4 million. The highest-grossing American movie was "Bad Boys for Life" ($426.5 million), which made most of its hay before Covid effectively closed down the U.S.
The uptick in projections has to do with a bangin' October, which saw movies like "Halloween Kills" ($90 million), "No Time to Die" ($525 million), "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" ($352 million), and China's smash hit "The Battle at Lake Changjin" ($828 million) absolutely crush it. Plus, "Dune" has exceeded expectations in the early going. So much so that October 2021 should earn around $3.2 billion, which is just 4% behind the average for the month from 2017 to 2019. That is a very good sign for the future.
Hope On the Horizon
The even better news is that Hollywood has a jam-packed slate of seemingly surefire hits to round out 2021. Some of what we have to look forward to includes Marvel's "Eternals," "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," Disney's "Encanto," "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City," "West Side Story," "Spider-Man: No Way Home," and "The Matrix Resurrections," among many others. We've also got lots of awards season contenders such as "Nightmare Alley," "The Tragedy of Macbeth," and "Spencer" that could break out.
Beyond that, 2022 is similarly loaded with many movies that will bring moviegoers out in droves. Especially if the pandemic gets further under control around the world as we approach summer 2022. A mere sampling of potentially big hits coming our way next year includes "Scream," "Morbius," "The Batman," "Downton Abbey 2," "Sonic the Hedgehog 2," "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," "Top Gun: Maverick," "John Wick 4," "Jurassic World: Dominion," and "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts." And that's just through June.
With any luck, next year can see us get closer to the heights of 2019, which saw a record $42.5 billion in global box office revenue. While we're not likely to ever see such highs again, the numbers indicate an upward trajectory towards something resembling normalcy sooner rather than later.