THEATERS ARE FEELING GOOD AFTER STRONG JUNE
Moviegoing is back to health after battering from pandemic
For two years, the film industry lived in genuine fear about the future of moviegoing, with no one able to say for sure whether cinemas would recover from the coronavirus pandemic. Sitting in the dark in a theater to watch moving images — a 117-year-old American pastime that was already in long, slow decline — may well have encountered its extinction-of-the-dinosaurs moment.
Superhero movies excepted, of course.
But box office analysts say there is now enough evidence for a clear assessment: Moviegoing in the
United States and Canada is out of intensive care and headed toward something that even resembles health. “Every genre has re-established itself, with the exception of big animation,” said David Gross, who runs Franchise Entertainment
Research, a film consultancy.
This weekend could add animation to the list. “Minions: The Rise of Gru” (Universal-Illumination), the fifth installment in the “Despicable Me” series, could take in $100 million or more at North American theaters between Friday and the end of the day Monday, according to analyst surveys that track audience interest. That would be a “spectacular” showing for an aging franchise, Gross said.
Ticket sales for June in the U.S. and Canada will total roughly $990 million, a decline of about 10 percent from June 2019, according to Comscore, which compiles moviegoing data. “This is a fantastic result — the best month at the box office since the pandemic began by far,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior Comscore analyst.
Moviegoing in May was down 26 percent from May 2019, for instance. April was down 44 percent.
June benefited from a mix of movies. “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount) collected more than $535 million in North America since