A few years ago, pre-pandemic, in the more optimistic world of 2019 there was a booming box office and streaming services were still figuring out how to cash-in on the big screen business in their own unique ways. This was before Disney+ and Apple TV+ had graced our small screens. This was a different time entirely, and in fact nine of the highest grossing films of 2019 all made over $1 billion at the worldwide box office! Then came 2020, the worst year for cinema goers since World War II.
Fighting back the pandemic in 2021 the box office wasn’t looking any better than 2020, with only some slight improvements as the world began opening their multiplex’s again for the first time within a year. So there were scattered releases across the year and more delays and moves as films struggled to find a place to call home. Some films such as Promising Young Woman, The Tomorrow War and News of the World found a better home on some streaming services, which left room for big films such as Fast & Furious 9 and Black Widow to blossom on the big screen.
Hybrid releases, which is where films were distributed simultaneously on streaming services and in cinema’s, was a common concept as well. Every Warner Bros. Pictures film debuted on HBO Max in America and in cinema’s on the same day and Disney was adopting a similar style to films such as Raya and the Last Dragon and Jungle Cruise with Disney+ Premiere Access. This was a compromise to appeal to people at home who wanted to stay safe and also for people who felt safe enough to travel to their local cinema’s. As a result the box office struggled especially in the latter half of the year until a certain film came out over Christmas called Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Spider-Man: No Way Home has currently made just shy of $2 billion at the worldwide box office, and that was without a release in China which is currently one of the biggest cinematic markets in the world. This “multiversal” film proved that people missed cinema’s and that it was worth opening them back up for the world to enjoy. That brings us to this year and the subject of today’s blog. Is the box office still relevant? The answer is yes and no.
A prime example of how the box office is relevant is with the recent release of The Batman which has made over $700 million across the world. In a pre-pandemic world this film would’ve more than likely made around $1 billion, so is this bad news? Nope! The Batman has recently been released on digital and on HBO Max in the States and is proving to be a popular release with a lot of streams under its belt already. This coupled with the money made at the box office seems like a positive outcome for the filmmaker’s and for the film studio. A successful film must now break the box office and appease to the streaming market at the same time, especially with a shortened release window between them both.
Unfortunately, this won’t apply to every film, as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has only made $240 million at the box office and yet this film is already classified as a success and a third film is already in development.It looks like we are currently in uncharted waters, especially in terms of what makes a successful film at the box office as this contradicts how The Batman was perceived as a success. Critical and commercial praise will also help a film make its money back in the long run such as Dune which has a sequel primed for release next year despite a lacklustre box office performance. It sounds complicated but it appears every studio is monitoring each of their own film’s individually instead of adhering to a “formulaic and systemic” approach to determining the fate of a franchise.
With big releases for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World: Dominion heading to cinema’s in the coming months, the box office might still bite back with similar numbers akin to Spider-Man: No Way Home. Time will tell how relevant the box office really is and how a film can be labelled as a success. So watch this space and cross your fingers that your favourite film will be among the best of the best for this year’s box office.
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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