- Since we last provided an update on the box office, Tom Cruise’s Maverick has been topped by dinosaurs as Jurassic World Dominion produced a higher opening at $145M. That said, Tom Cruise has strong staying power as Maverick’s W/W declines have been far lower than historical precedent, resulting in a U.S. total box office to date of $486M. Last week’s opening of Lightyear (Pixar) at $51M was shy of expectations, leaving the studios and expectations still wheezy about the future of family films in theaters.
- At the recent Credit Suisse media conference, Endeavor (Hollywood’s top talent agency) and the theater operators reported not seeing any impact on spending due to inflation. Box office tracking company AG Film Analytics said that the U.S. box office is tracking towards $8.5B with the potential to hit $9B should Black Panther and Avatar outperform in 4Q22. (We last marked expectations for the 2022 U.S. box office at $8.2B). Placer.ai data indicates that movie theater visits remain close to year-to-date highs (below).
- Studio production is at an all-time high per reports from the Credit Suisse conference and top talent is in high demand. Should the movie scripts be good, that portends well for 2023 and 2024 box office totals. On membership programs, Cinemark shared that Movie Club members are 20% of attendance versus 14% in 2019 and that these members attend 3X more frequently than non-members.
