What’s behind 2018 box office rebound
Business came roaring back to the box office this year, powered by blockbusters such as “Black Panther,” “Avengers: Infinity War,” and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”.
LOS ANGELES: Business came roaring back to the box office this year, powered by blockbusters such as “Black Panther,” “Avengers: Infi nity War,” and “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”.
In the US, the box office hit a new high-water mark of US$ 11.5 billion and global revenues also have a chance of reaching new heights if Christmas releases such as “Aquaman” and “Mary Poppins Returns” can ring in the new year in style.
Studios and cinema owners are closing out the year in a much more optimistic frame of mind, after being written off in 2017 as creaky anachronisms that were being rapidly surpassed by more agile streaming players such as Netflix and Amazon. So why did moviegoers return to cinemas in force over the last 12 months?
“It’s all about content,” said Jeff Goldstein, head of domestic distribution at Warner Bros. “There were movies audiences wanted to see.”
When they did hit the multiplexes, audiences around the world were able to see a more diverse range of heroes. Films such as “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Black Panther,” and “Oceans 8” allowed Asians, black people, and women to take centre stage. At a time when the need for inclusion is being fiercely debated across the entertainment industry, the movies that tapped into the zeitgeist most strongly seemed to be the ones that eschewed straight white male protagonists.
“Audiences connect more deeply when they see people like themselves on screen,” said Cathleen Taff, Disney’s distribution chief.
Moreover, studios were able to spread the wealth throughout the year. Instead of banking on reliable release dates during the likes of summer or holiday stretches to fuel blockbusters, some of this year’s biggest moneymakers came from frames that were once seen as dumping grounds in between major movies.
“We had movies in every month that shattered expectations,” said Phil Contrino, director of media and research at the National Association of Theatre Owners. “That’s why you have a record year.”
February fielded the topgrossing domestic fi lm of 2018 with “Black Panther,“while “Venom,““A Star Is Born,“and “Halloween“powered October to a record month. Without the competition from summer behemoths or holidays season juggernauts, a number of titles were able to break out and earn a tidy sum.
There are reasons to celebrate, but the fi lm industry also can’t afford to become complacent. The business faces some significant structural challenges and hasn’t fi gured out a compelling way to replenish the franchise well. Disney, armed with Marvel, Pixar, and Lucasfi lm, continues to dominate the movie industry, siphoning off more than a quarter of domestic revenues.
With more than US$ 3 billion in grosses in the US, Disney racked up some US$ 1.2 billion more in ticket sales than its closest rival, Universal. The studio will cast an even larger shadow across the theatrical business when it absorbs much of Fox’s fi lm assets as part of a US$ 71.3 billion megamerger, a position that will give it even greater leverage when negotiating with cinemas for revenue splits and access to screens.
There are also reasons to worry that the fi lm business remains overly reliant on a handful of genres and franchises. Six of the top 10 highest- grossing domestic releases in 2018 were superhero pics and nine of the 10 most successful North American movies were sequels or spinoffs, hardly a triumph for originality. The only movie in the top 10 that wasn’t part of a pre- existing series was “The Grinch,” a venerable piece of intellectual property that has already inspired a Jim Carrey movie and a beloved television fi lm with the voice of Boris Karloff.
“We’ve struck a chord with millennials and found a vehicle they like to use,” said AMC CEO Adam Aron. “We believe we introduced it the right way. We think ( other subscription-based services) made a lot of mistakes that made their viability doubtful. By contrast, we were not shy. We charged more than double what our competitors were charging.” Ticket sales and attendance may have increased in 2018, but AMC, Cinemark, Imax, and other publicly traded exhibitors have yet to see that reflected in their share prices.