North America is the world's largest film market and the main battlefield where the success or failure of a Hollywood movie is tested. Generally speaking, there are two organizations that regularly publish box office data for the North American film market: the website Box Office Mojo mainly collects and analyzes the data reported by each distributor; and the media company specializes in various data collection and analysis. Comscore collects daily box office data from theaters and is also the main source of information for US media when reporting box office data.
As usual, Comscore's annual report will not be released on the first Tuesday of the new year, that is, January 2, 2024 local time in the United States. However, it is said that the total box office in North America in 2023 will basically fall between US$9.03 billion and US$9.05 billion. . As for Box Office Mojo, due to the time difference, the current North American box office figures on the website for 2023 are still at US$8.90015049.9 billion, but I believe there will be further updates in a few days.
"Barbenheimer"
Looking back at the North American movie keywords in 2023, the first recommendation is "Barpenheimer": two commercial blockbusters with completely unrelated content and genres, accidentally collided head-on in the same schedule. The result was not that one was ebbing and the other was ebbing, but that they successfully ignited together. It has captured the audience's enthusiasm and become a phenomenal film event in 2023. "Barbie" produced by Warner Bros. Pictures finally became the North American box office champion in 2023 with a score of US$636 million, while "Oppenheimer" produced by Universal Pictures ranked No. 3 on the North American annual box office list with US$326 million. Five.
The success of the two works has its own reasons, but in summary, they are all about abandoning routines and highlighting new ideas. Coupled with "Super Mario Bros. Movie" produced by Universal Pictures and ranking second on the North American annual box office list with US$574 million, these three works can be said to have high original value.
Although "Barbie" comes from the world-famous popular toy, "Super Mario Bros. Movie" is based on the well-known video game of the same name, and the protagonist of "Oppenheimer" has long been recorded in history because of the atomic bomb, they are actually These are neither sequels nor remakes of old movies. They are able to attract audiences to buy tickets and rely on solid original stories and designs.
Stills from "Super Mario Bros. The Movie"
In sharp contrast, there are a lot of blockbusters that failed at the box office in 2023, almost all sequels and series. In addition to comic-book superhero movies that have completely exhausted audiences, "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Mission: Impossible 7" have also failed to achieve satisfactory box office results.
The total North American box office in 2023 is certainly the highest in North America since the epidemic upended the film industry, far better than the US$7.46 billion in 2022 and the US$4.56 billion in 2021. However, such results have not returned to pre-epidemic levels.
Historically, North American box office revenue has steadily exceeded US$10 billion every year since 2009, and since 2015, this number has exceeded US$11 billion every year. In 2019, before the epidemic, although North American movie box office performance had begun to be severely squeezed by the streaming media market, the annual box office could still easily reach 11.4 billion US dollars.
On the surface, the main reason seems to be that Hollywood studios release fewer and fewer movies every year: only 88 movies will be released on a large scale in 2023, while in 2019, when the box office reached 10.5 billion U.S. dollars, there were 108 movies, which is enough. A total of 20 pieces. However, if you really want to talk about it, even if there are 20 more new films in 2023, can it be guaranteed that the box office for the whole year will be an extra US$2 billion? Who dares to say that these 20 films can each earn an average of US$100 million at the North American box office?
The reason why movies like "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" can convince everyone to pay for the tickets is because they are works that can only appreciate the beauty of light and shadow when watched on the big screen. "Barbie" became a box office dark horse near the end of the year. The same goes for Taylor Swift: The Age of Concert Tour. In 2023, when streaming services are becoming more and more mature (and more and more saturated), how many movies must be experienced in the cinema in the eyes of the audience? Below we will analyze the wins and losses of the five major Hollywood studios. Let’s take a look at the list to find out.
Universal Pictures
Winners: "Super Mario Bros. Movie" ($575 million), "Oppenheimer" ($326 million), "Five Nights at Freddy's" ($137 million), "Megan" ($95 million) )
Negative: "Fast and Furious 10" ($146 million), "Rainfield" ($17 million), "Demeter's Last Voyage" ($13 million)
According to movie companies, the top spot on the North American box office list in 2023 is Universal Pictures, which received US$1.93 billion for the year. With blockbuster films such as "Super Mario Bros. Movie" and "Oppenheimer", Universal accounts for about 22% of the North American box office share, narrowly overpowering Disney and taking the top spot for the first time since 2015.
"Oppenheimer" stills
Among the top five grossing films in North America in 2023, Universal occupies two seats. In addition, the innovative thriller "Megan", which cost only US$12 million, also earned nearly US$100 million at the box office, while "Five Nights at Freddy's" turned a cost of US$20 million into a box office of US$137 million. Called the two most cost-effective movies in 2023.
Of course, Universal has also made mistakes in 2023. The tenth installment of the "Fast and Furious" series is already showing signs of fatigue, and the production cost is getting higher and higher, reaching a staggering US$340 million. A lot of the year's dividends have been wiped out.
In 2024, Universal will have works such as "Kung Fu Panda 4" and "Despicable Me 4" on the market, and there is still a chance to win the championship again.
disney
Winners: "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" ($359 million), "The Little Mermaid" ($297 million), "Episode" ($154 million)
Negative: "Captain Marvel 2" ($84 million), "Raiders of the Lost Ark" ($174 million), "Star Wish" ($61 million), "The Haunted Mansion" ($68 million)
2023 is the centenary of Disney’s birth. It should be a year worth celebrating, and various commemorative movies, books and activities have been planned early. However, the overall commercial results released at the end of the year made 2023 the year when "Mickey Mouse" fell from the altar.
Since accounting for 26% of the annual box office in 2016, Disney has become the only overlord in Hollywood in the past few years relying on its flagship products such as Marvel and Pixar; the peak occurred in 2019, when the box office share reached 33.3 %, 7 of the top 10 movies in the world are produced by Disney, and each movie has a box office of more than 1 billion US dollars, completely leaving the other major Hollywood studios behind.
However, with the advent of COVID-19, everything came to an abrupt end. Three years after the epidemic, Disney’s box office share was only 11%, 20% and 18% respectively. However, at that time, due to external factors such as theater closures and filming shutdowns, Disney's box office dropped, which can be said to be a non-war crime. In 2023, when the epidemic ends, Disney's box office share will still be only 16%, so we can only find the reason from ourselves.
The most serious problem is naturally the continued slump of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. From "Ant-Man 3" at the beginning of the year to "Captain Marvel 2" at the end of the year, all have lost their past eye-catching qualities. The latter even became the worst box office movie in the history of Marvel movies, which made Disney CEO Bob ·Iger admitted that in the previous stage, they did make a big mistake of only focusing on quantity and ignoring quality. At the same time, this also reminds opponents once again that there is never any panacea in Hollywood, and audience tastes are changing rapidly. Sitting on one's laurels and being complacent is destined to lead to death.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" poster
Overall, among the top ten box office hits in North America for the whole year, Disney still has "Guardians of the Galaxy 3" ranked fourth, "The Little Mermaid" ranked sixth, and "Ant-Man 3" ranked eighth. The illusion that a dead camel is bigger than a horse” exists. But excluding the three years due to the special circumstances of the epidemic, this has also become the first year since 2014 that Disney has not had a single movie with a global box office exceeding the $1 billion mark.
Of course, Disney's advantage is that it has acquired a large number of high-quality assets through mergers and acquisitions in the past few years. 20th Century Fox, which was originally among the six major Hollywood studios, was renamed 20th Century Pictures after being acquired by Disney, and its box office was also included in the evaluation of the Disney Group. In 2023, they released three works: "The Cabinet", "Fright Night in Venice" and "AI Creator". Together with the release of "Avatar 2" in early 2023, they earned a total of approximately US$400 million in North American box office. Counting this part, Disney accounted for about 21% of the North American box office for the whole year, ranking second.
Warner Bros
Winners: "Barbie" ($636 million), "The Sister" ($86 million), "The Meg 2" ($82 million), "Wonka" ($143 million)
Negative: "The Flash" ($108 million), "Blue Beetle" ($72 million), "Shazam 2" ($57 million), "Aquaman 2" ($85 million)
Sitting on "Barbie", which has the highest box office in North America in 2023 (the film also topped the annual global box office with a box office of US$1.44 billion), Warner failed to become the North American box office champion in 2023, with only US$1.4 billion, It ranked third with a share of about 15.24%. The reason can only be attributed to the poor box office performance of DC superhero comic book movies one after another.
"Barbie" stills
In addition to "Barbie", Warner also enjoyed considerable success in the horror film "The Nun 2" and the family movie "Wonka" in 2023. However, they invested a total of approximately US$660 million in production costs for the four DC works "The Flash", "Blue Beetle", "Shazam 2" and "Aquaman 2". As a result, the total global box office revenue of the four movies was less than 2016. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" ($874 million).
In 2024, Warner will have works such as "Dune 2", "Godzilla vs. Kong 2" and "Joker 2" coming out, hoping to get back on track.
Sony Pictures
Winner: "Spider-Man: Across the Universe" ($381 million), "Avenged 3" ($92 million)
Negative: "Stupid Money" ($13 million), "Escape" ($32 million)
In 2020, when the world was in chaos, Sony Pictures once became the biggest winner in the North American film market, gaining more than 20% of the market share. In 2021, they will continue to be at the forefront. However, in 2022, when everything is back on track, Sony's market share has relegated to fifth place. In 2023, the situation is slightly better than Paramount, which is at the bottom. The annual box office of less than 1 billion US dollars accounts for about 11% market share.
"Spider-Man: Across the Universe" stills
During the three years of the epidemic, Sony has released around 16 or 17 works each year. In 2023, the number has risen to 27, which is far more than any other major Hollywood studio. It has basically returned to the level before the epidemic.
The animated movie "Spider-Man: Across the Universe" released in June is one of the rare Marvel movies to be a box office hit in 2023. The total global box office of "The Righteous 3" also reached 190 million US dollars, almost the same as the previous two films, showing the high popularity of Denzel Washington. As for "Napoleon", which was released at the end of the year, it cannot be considered a box office success in itself. After all, the production cost of the film was as high as 200 million US dollars. However, this huge sum of money basically comes from Apple, which has a lot of money. Sony is only responsible for distribution and will not lose any money.
In 2024, Sony will release a large number of new films such as "Ghostbusters: Frozen City", "Garfield", "Mrs. Spider-Man: Awakening", "Kraven the Hunter" and "Venom 3" as usual, and the box office should have a breakthrough.
Paramount
Winners: "Scream 6" ($108 million), "Paw Paw The Movie 2" ($65 million), "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Brawl" ($118 million)
Negative: "Mission: Impossible 7" ($172 million), "Dungeons and Dragons: Rogue Honor" ($93 million)
2023 is really a year that breaks Hollywood conventions. Not only have the always-invincible superhero movies suffered, but even Tom Cruise, who has always been a box office guarantee, has also experienced an existential crisis.
Before the release of "Mission: Impossible 7", almost everyone expected that this would be Tom Cruise's second consecutive summer release with good news after "Top Gun 2". As a result, "Mission: Impossible 7" failed to It ignited North American people's enthusiasm for watching movies in the first weekend, but was quickly completely defeated by "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer". The most fatal thing is that the epidemic has pushed the production cost of the film to a staggering US$291 million, causing it to be burdened with excessive baggage before it was released.
"Dungeons and Dragons: Rogue Glory" poster
Dungeons & Dragons' box office failure was also somewhat unexpected. After all, the film was adapted from a powerful game IP and received a very good reputation from the audience after the screening. However, perhaps due to the schedule, there was ultimately a lack of enough audiences to support the film, which made it impossible for this $150 million film to break even. .
Throughout the year, Paramount released a total of 10 films, with a box office of just over 800 million US dollars, accounting for about 9.6% of the entire North American box office, ranking fifth, far lower than the 17.6 in 2022 with the blessing of "Top Gun 2" %market share.
In 2024, Paramount will release blockbuster new films such as "Gladiator 2", "Transformers: The First Generation" and "Sonic the Hedgehog 3", which will hopefully reverse the decline.
"Taylor Swift: The Age of Concert Tour" poster
In addition to the five major Hollywood studios mentioned above, Lionsgate Pictures ranked sixth at the annual box office in North America with a market share of 6.55%. They released a total of 12 films throughout the year, and "John Wick 4" was even more With US$187 million, it ranked ninth at the North American single-film box office. Further back, the independent film "Sounds of Liberty", which took an unusual path from filming to distribution and promotion, grossed US$184 million at the box office, ranking tenth on the North American single-film annual box office list.
"Taylor Swift: The Age of Concert Tour", which has an equally unique distribution model, earned US$179 million at the box office, ranking 11th on the North American single-film annual box office list. It has not happened for more than ten years that an independent film like this breaks into the top of the annual box office list. It seems to reflect the coming of major changes in Hollywood that have not been seen in N years.
