Family Fare Brings People Back To Theatres
By Jordan Taylor
The box office is taking a turn for the better. For the holiday season this year Cineplex (which is the largest movie theatre chain in Canada) reported that their box office revenue was up $64.8 million this past December from December 2023. The most successful movie that opened in December of 2023 was Wonka which grossed $218 million domestically, and $634 million worldwide. This years Wicked and Moana 2 have far surpassed those numbers.
After a spectacular run of blockbusters like Moana 2 and Wicked, audiences are showing up, and giving movie theatres life. In an age where audiences have multiple streaming services to choose from, streaming remains the dominant form of entertainment. Not to mention with the shortened window in which movies play exclusively in theatres before hitting digital, audiences feel even less compelled to show up to the theatre. It takes a big movie event to put audiences in seats the way things were pre-pandemic. For comparison 2019 had 9 movies hit a a billion worldwide. 2024 has 3 at the moment, and will have 4 in the next week with Moana 2 closing in on a billion. Wicked is also expected to reach $700 million this week. It still has countries that have yet to release the movie. This is also after being available on PVOD for the past 2 weeks, whereas Moana 2 is currently only available in theatres. Both movies provided excellent counter-programming at the box office as there both musicals.
Cineplex Offering $5 Movies This Month
Following the spike in moviegoers, Cineplex has announced starting this week that movie tickets are going to be just $5 every Tuesday for the next month. On top of that popcorn will also only be $5 on Tuesdays. With January usually being a slow moviegoing season, Cineplex hopes to encourage audiences to continue going to the theatre. Especially with Wicked being available on digital, and Sonic 3 hitting digital next Tuesday, moviegoers are going to need more motivation to pay to go to the theatre, especially with half the movies in theatres hitting digital this month.
Family Movies Brought In Large Amount Of Moviegoers
Both movies dominating the box office are also family movies. Usually when 2 movies are able to simultaneously break the box office, there of two completely different genres. In this case, there both musicals catered towards different audience demographics. Having said that Moana 2 appeals to younger moviegoers, whereas teenagers and adults are more geared towards Wicked. For not just one, but two movies to dominate the box office, is fantastic for movie theatres. Sonic 3 is also set to surpass $400 million at the box office, and Mufasa The Lion King is closing in on $600 million. Between these 4 movies and gothic Horror movie Nosferatu, it seems there was something for everyone at the box office this holiday season. It doesn't just show in the versatility of movies, but the excellent box office numbers to prove it. With the exception of Nosferatu, it seems family movies belonging to IP franchises enticed moviegoers to go to the theatre. Hollywood doesn't have many big movies coming out until mid February with Captain America Brave New World. Time will tell if that movie will be able to continue this box office streak for movie theatres, specifically Cineplex.
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