Hits Like ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Buoyed 2022 Movie Box Office, to a Point

The mixed superpowers of the Batman, Physician Unusual, the Minions, Maverick and Na’vi warriors couldn’t save Hollywood from a lackluster 2022 field workplace.

Vast-release movies, which means these proven in additional than 2,000 theaters for a number of weeks, earned $7.23 billion in North America this yr by way of Christmas, in line with field workplace tracker Comscore. As soon as the brand new yr arrives, the home field workplace complete for 2022 will possible are available in at round $7.35 billion, Comscore mentioned.

Whole home field workplace grosses by way of Christmas of this yr characterize a rise of 68% over 2021, when many theaters remained closed and audiences have been largely nonetheless apprehensive about returning to theaters for worry of Covid-19.

However 2022 grosses are nonetheless off by roughly one-third in contrast with 2019, the final prepandemic yr, when the entire North American field workplace totaled $11 billion.

The primary concern, in line with studio executives and trade observers, is lack of provide—fewer large motion pictures means fewer tickets bought. One other issue is customers’ urge for food for moviegoing given the expansion of streaming and chronic Covid-19 issues.