According to China Film News, Gower Street, a British data observation company, estimates that as of December 31, 2023, the global box office in 2023 will reach $33.9 billion, an increase of about 30% over 2022.
With a total of $9 billion at the annual box office, accounting for more than a quarter of the global box office, North America once again topped the global film market, albeit with some "difficulty". Comscore, a U.S.-based global** measurement and analysis company, said that throughout the year, this "report card" is still $2 billion short of pre-pandemic levels.
Gower Street's estimated global box office share distribution for 2023. **Screenshot of Gower Street's official website.
This gap is common. In the global film market in 2023, revenue in North America increased by 21% year-on-year, revenue in Europe, the Middle East and Africa increased by 25% year-on-year, and revenue in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding China) increased by 9% year-on-year. The flip side of this seemingly gratifying increase is that the box office of major international film markets has not exceeded the pre-pandemic performance, which can be described as a weak recovery.
However, a strong force is "punching" in the "moderate", or "lackluster" growth of the global film market. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chinese films have "exceeded expectations" in 2023, contributing 77 percent to the world$100 million at the box office, accounting for 16 percent of the global box office in 20223% soared to 22 in 20238% (data from Gower Street). Although the revenue of the Chinese film market has not yet returned to the pre-epidemic level, compared with the 20% difference in the North American film market, the Chinese film market is 6% away from returning to its "peak", which is "one foot in the door", and the performance is obviously better.
Poster of the movie "Flying Life 2". **The official Weibo of the movie "Flying Life 2".
According to the preliminary statistics of the National Film Administration on February 18, the box office of Chinese films during the Spring Festival reached 801.6 billion yuan, a new record. Films such as "Hot and Hot" and "Flying Life 2" have set a new record for the total number of moviegoers and total screenings during the Spring Festival for Chinese films.
As domestic films gradually dominate the Chinese film market, the impact of the "fluctuation" of the international film market on the Chinese film market is decreasing. Chinese films are taking a unique path of their own.
Gower Street said that the global box office could fall by as much as 7% in 2024 due to factors such as the Hollywood strike. The wrap of the American entertainment news believes that 2024 will be a "terrible" year for the movie box office.
In July 2023, the Screen Actors Guild of America (SAG-AFTRA), one of Hollywood's three major unions with about 160,000 members, went on strike. Photo by China News Service reporter Zhang Shuo.
This may be another "bleak future" for the global film market in the post-epidemic era. However, these ** are still unknown. The Chinese film market is gaining momentum, and it is not impossible to cross the 6% threshold or even climb to a new peak. "Stability and improvement" are narrowing the gap between the Chinese market and the North American market. If it can be maintained, it will gradually become a reality that China's annual box office will surpass that of North America. (ENDS).
Written by Wang Zonghan.