{"id":88247,"date":"2025-07-24T09:08:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T09:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/88247\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T09:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T09:08:10","slug":"box-office-shows-no-sign-of-surpassing-pre-covid-levels-by-2029-pwc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/88247\/","title":{"rendered":"Box Office Shows No Sign of Surpassing Pre-COVID Levels by 2029: PwC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tU.S. and global\u00a0box office<\/a>\u00a0and total cinema revenue will not reach pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels by 2029, according to accounting firm PwC\u2019s annual closely-watched media and entertainment outlook report released late on July 23. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn the U.S., pre-pandemic total cinema revenue is not forecast to be reached by 2029 despite a compound annual growth rate (CAGR)\u00a0of 3.9 percent. PwC had recorded nearly $11.7 billion in U.S. total cinema revenue in the pre-pandemic year 2019 after $11.8 billion in 2018. The firm projects the figure to rise from $8.9 billion in 2024 and $9.6 billion in 2025 to $10.1 billion in 2026, $10.3 billion in 2027, $10.6 billion in 2028, and $10.8 billion in 2029.<\/p>\n

\n\tAsked by The Hollywood Reporter about how pre-COVID box office levels are not expected to be reached by 2029, Bart Spiegel, PwC global entertainment and media leader, says: \u201cUnfortunately, this full recovery is unlikely within the forecast period. However, we project that by the end of 2029, the industry will be on the brink of a full rebound. In other words, 2030 may be the year global box office revenues return to pre-pandemic levels.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tPre-COVID, U.S. box office in 2018 amounted to $10.8 billion before a 2019 drop to $10.7 billion. PwC forecasts the 2024 figure of $8.1 billion to grow to $8.7 billion this year. For the 2025-2029 period, it predicts a CAGR of 3.86 percent to push box office revenue to nearly $9.8 billion by the end of that period.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn terms of admissions, PwC lists 777 million for 2023, a drop to 734 million for 2024, and an estimated rebound to 778 million for 2025. It projects a 2.3 percent CAGR for the U.S. to 823 million in 2029, compared with 1.3 billion in 2019. By then, the average admission price will climb to $11.86, or \u201cover $2 more than the $9.16 charged in 2020 and 2021,\u201d the report explains.<\/p>\n

\n\tTotal U.S. cinema revenue in 2024 fell to $8.9 billion from $9.1 billion in 2023, \u201cbut the drop was anticipated and not as steep as had originally been feared,\u201d highlighted the PwC report. (Yet it hit the bottom line <\/a>of studios as well.) \u201cThe Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild\u2013American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes of late 2023 had slowed down production \u2013 and there were fewer \u2018tentpole\u2019 titles than would normally have been anticipated.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tFor the global box office, PwC forecasts the 2024 figure of $29.7 billion to grow to $33.5 billion this year. It then predicts continued growth to $37.7 billion by the end of the Outlook report period in 2029, compared with $39.4 billion in 2019.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s important to remember that industry revenues are ultimately driven by price times volume. In this case, while ticket prices are rising, admissions (volume) are not expected to return to pre-pandemic levels,\u201d Spiegel says. \u201cInstead, the growth in global box office revenue is being fueled by higher ticket prices. These ticket price increases are driven by several factors, including enhanced infrastructure and facilities, technological advancements, and rising content costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe accounting firm notes that transition has hit Hollywood many times in the past, highlighting: \u201cIn recent years, the U.S. film sector has been disrupted. The streamers overturned traditional business models, the pandemic hit the box office, and the 2023 strikes stymied the post-COVID-19 recovery. But U.S. industry history reveals that the sector has experienced challenges many times before, with everything from the conversion to sound to the anti-trust legislation of the 1940s, the arrival of TV as a mass medium in the 1940s and 1950s, and the VHS revolution of the 1970s. In each case, the sector recovered. It is doing so again now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHere is a closer look at some of the U.S. cinema sector trends highlighted in PwC\u2019s Global Entertainment & Media Outlook.<\/p>\n

\t\tFranchise films and tentpoles\t<\/p>\n

\n\tGrowth in U.S. box office revenue this year \u201cis again being driven, as in pre-COVID-19 years, by franchise movies building on existing IP \u2013 with Disney re-established as the pre-eminent player,\u201d the report notes. The studio had three of the top five hits in the U.S. market in 2024: Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Moana 2. \u2026 Each of the five major studios \u2013 Disney, Universal, Warner Bros., Sony and Paramount \u2013 had sizeable hits. Universal\u2019s Wicked, Despicable Me 4 and Twisters; Warner Bros.\u2019 Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Dune: Part Two, and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire; Sony\u2019s Bad Boys: Ride or Die and It Ends With Us; and Paramount\u2019s Gladiator II and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 were all strong successes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPwC also points out that \u201cblockbuster titles like Captain America: Brave New World, the live-action Snow White and live-action How to Train Your Dragon, motorsport drama F1, the latest reboot of Superman, Wicked: For Good, Zootopia 2, Mission: Impossible \u2013 The Final Reckoning, and Avatar: Fire and Ash should ensure that 2025 is a reasonably robust year. In 2025, it is expected that 110 films will be produced and released in more than 2,000 sites in North America, up from 95 in 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, \u201can observation that has continued to be made over the last decade is that so-called mid-budget movies, which include award-contending dramas, are struggling at the box office,\u201d PwC mentions. \u201cThese are the pictures that spectators seemingly prefer to watch at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tConcludes PwC: \u201cThe U.S. remains a very polarised market with a handful of \u2018tentpole\u2019 movies accounting for a vast amount of the profits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tWindows Experiments\t<\/p>\n

\n\tExperiments with day and date releasing, making big blockbusters available on streaming platforms with little or no period of exclusivity in cinemas, \u201chave now been largely discarded,\u201d the PwC report highlights. \u201cThis reveals a shift in the studios\u2019 mindset and an acknowledgement that releasing in cinemas first is still regarded as the most reliable way to drive ancillary sales. Streamers involved in film production, like Amazon MGM and Apple, are also committing to 45-day theatrical windows for their bigger titles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNetflix remains focused on its streaming platform, though. \u201cNetflix\u2019s Oscar contender Emilia P\u00e9rez was given only a very brief theatrical release (primarily to ensure awards qualification) before being launched to stream on the Netflix platform,\u201d notes the Outlook. \u201cEmilia P\u00e9rez\u2019s box office revenue was, relatively, low at around $15 million globally. The film secured 13 Oscar nominations despite not being seen widely on the big screen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tCinema Appeal\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cU.S. exhibitors have been trumpeting research that suggests the public is re-embracing the theatrical experience,\u201d PwC points out. \u201cThe National Association of Theatre Owners cited a report into cinema-going habits compiled by UCLA, which revealed that seeing a movie during opening weekend ranks as the number one preferred activity among 10\u201324-year-olds. This counters prevailing anxiety about the loss of a younger audience too preoccupied with TikTok and Instagram to go to cinemas. Market research also suggests that for certain genres \u2013 horror and comedy in particular \u2013 younger cinema-goers like to watch with their peers and to enjoy the shared experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tTheater Amenities\t<\/p>\n

\n\tCinema operators\u2019 upgrades to luxury seats is \u201cone factor driving admissions for more-affluent customers,\u201d according to PwC. Loyalty and subscription programs offering discounts have also been on the rise. For 2024, the firm reports 119 million loyalty club members, up from 106 million in 2023.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPLF is continuing to make gains,\u201d the Outlook report also emphasizes. \u201cIn North America, 950 theatres now have large-format screens \u2013 a 37 percent increase from five years ago and a clear sign that cinema-goers are looking for a spectacular experience that can\u2019t be replicated at home. A record number of at least 14 Hollywood and international<\/a> releases shot with Imax cameras will hit cinemas in 2025 \u2013 and will be shown on the Imax global platform at the company\u2019s 1,700 locations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tSony\u2019s Alamo Deal Could Spur Theater Buys\t<\/p>\n

\n\tSony Pictures\u2019 2024 acquisition of exhibitor Alamo Drafthouse made Sony the first studio giant to move back into owning cinema assets. \u201cAnti-trust legislation that had been in place for over 70 years, from 1948 to 2020, meant that Hollywood studios were previously prevented from owning their own movie theatres,\u201d highlights PwC in its report. \u201cThere is the possibility that other U.S. studios will follow suit. This means they can again become fully vertically integrated \u2013 controlling production, distribution, and exhibition, just as they did during their heyday from the 1920s to the 1940s.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"U.S. and global\u00a0box office\u00a0and total cinema revenue will not reach pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels by 2029, according to accounting…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":88248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[207,171,1801,53,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-88247","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-box-office","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-international","11":"tag-movies","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114907427833729460","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}