In 2024, total earnings at the box office across the United States and Canada amounted to around 8.56 billion U.S. dollars, down from 8.91 billion dollars in the previous year. Still, the 2024 figure was still under the revenue recorded in 2019. Light, camera, action – literally The initial recovery in the box office was followed by a return in market concentration. As of February 2023, the "Big Five" major film studios – Disney, Paramount, Sony/Columbia, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. – collectively held a market share of over 80 percent in the U.S. and Canada. Meanwhile, the action genre remained the most popular movie genre of the year. Diversity attracts moviegoers Over 60 percent of Gen Zers surveyed in the U.S. in May 2022 mentioned the movie offerings as the main reason to watch motion pictures in theaters. This suggests that new generations of moviegoers may be losing interest in some of the themes abundant in Hollywood productions. Between April 2018 and November 2021, the share of internet users in the U.S. who said they enjoyed superhero movies but were getting tired of so many of them went from 17 percent to 23 percent.

The source estimated that the global cinema revenue would amount to around ** billion U.S. dollars in 2022. The figure was projected to continue to grow in the following years, albeit at a slower pace after 2023. The annual result forecast for 2026 surpassed ** billion dollars. According to the source, most of the worldwide box office revenue came from the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2021, the global box office revenue added up to approximately 21.3 billion U.S. dollars, up from 11.8 billion dollars a year earlier – an annual increase of 80.5 percent. Still, the 2021 result amounted to only little more than half of the 42.3-billion-dollar box office revenue recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, the share of 3D films in the global revenue went from six percent in 2020 to 6.6 percent in 2021.

Cinema market: a challenging comeback The pandemic changed the film industry by emptying movie theaters and accelerating the increase in video streaming penetration. In the so-called North American movie market – which consists of Canada and the United States (including the unincorporated territories of Guam and Puerto Rico) – the box office revenue more than doubled between 2020 and 2021. But the latter figure amounted to less than 40 percent of the pre-COVID-19 result. Meanwhile, subscription video-on-demand (SVoD) platforms went even further. Netflix kept the top spot while new competitors such as Disney+ diversified the offering.

Big players on the big screen The global cinema segment spans way beyond North America, though. China alone sold more than 1.1 billion movie tickets throughout 2021, making it the leading market worldwide, right above the U.S. India ranked third with almost 380 million tickets sold that same year. With a vast film culture – even larger than its iconic Bollywood industry – India and its cinema feature a myriad of languages and advertising opportunities to its gargantuan audience.

The source forecast that, by the end of 2022, the annual revenue of the global film production and distribution industry would amount to **** billion U.S. dollars. As of mid-2022, the sector employed almost *** thousand people in a little more than ** thousand businesses worldwide. China, the North American market (a term that includes the United States and Canada and excludes Mexico), and Japan were the world's leading box office markets by revenue in 2021.

In 2021, the global box office revenue amounted to approximately **** billion U.S. dollars, out of which more than half – **** billion dollars – came from the Asia Pacific region. In Europe, the Middle East, and Africa – collectively known as EMEA – the box office revenue added up to **** billion dollars or almost one-fourth of the total. Despite the increase when compared to 2020, the 2021 figures remained distant from the ****-billion-dollar global revenue recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak. What is box office data used for? The term box office revenue refers to the total revenue generated through movie ticket sales. It is primarily used to measure and compare the commercial success of a film. Ticket sales may account for a large portion of the film industry’s total revenue – especially before the pandemic. They are also the main source of income for movie theaters. Leading box office markets The United States and Canada – known as the North American movie market – were the leading box office market worldwide for several decades. But China, alongside other Asian markets, has also begun to make its mark on the global movie industry in recent years. Bollywood movies, in particular, are gaining popularity outside of India. While the Indian film industry released far more movies than China and the U.S. until the coronavirus outbreak, its box office revenues remained comparatively small.

In 2021, the global box office revenue added up to **** billion U.S. dollars, up from **** billion dollars a year earlier – an annual growth of **** percent. Still, the 2021 figure amounted to little more than half of the ****-billion-dollar revenue recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak. Will the U.S. movie market recover? Altogether, Canada and the United States (including the unincorporated territories of Guam and Puerto Rico) form what is known as the North American film market. This region is recovering at a slower pace than the global average. In 2021, the North American box office revenue amounted to **** billion dollars. This represents less than ** percent of the *****-billion-dollar result reported two years before. The Asian film industry In 2021, China consolidated its upper hand in the global movie market. The country had already placed first in the worldwide ranking of box office revenues in 2020 when it first surpassed the U.S. and Canada. India is also on the rise. As Bollywood movies become more popular out of the country, their performances at the box offices across the world reach dozens of billions of Indian rupees.

The revenue of the motion picture and video production and distribution industry in the United States sharply increased in 2022 to almost ** billion U.S. dollars. The number of movie tickets sold in the U.S. and Canada amounted to around ***** million tickets that same year.

The movie industry has been expanding steadily in China. In 2017, the domestic box office revenue reached 55.9 billion yuan, almost seven billion yuan more than in the previous year. The total revenue of the whole movie industry in China was expected to surpass 100 billion yuan in 2019.

Throughout 2022, domestic licensing of rights to television programs was the leading source of revenue for the motion picture and video production and distribution industry in the United States, generating 23.25 billion U.S. dollars. Domestic licensing to motion pictures and contract production of audiovisual works followed, accounting for 12.57 billion and 9.39 billion dollars of the sector's total turnover. A record-high and a changing trend The overall revenue of the U.S. motion picture and video production and distribution sector reached an all-time high in 2021, increasing by over 14 percent and surpassing 81 billion dollars. That same year, motion pictures' domestic licensing to TV shows amassed twice as much as licensing to other films. The consecutive prevalence of TV over movies in this subsegment started in 2016. In the first half of the 2010s, only once licensing to programs generated revenue higher than licensing to other films. Higher expenses and cinemas' struggle The expenses of the film and video industries in the U.S. – including production and distribution, as well as exhibition, postproduction, and other related services – increased by 10 percent in 2021. The figure surpassed 66 billion dollars for the first time since 2013. The exhibition segment, however, continued to deliver results below pre-pandemic standards. In 2021, the cinema industry's leading revenue sources, ticket and concession sales, generated only 41 and 54 percent of the revenues recorded in 2019.

In 2020, the theatrical market revenue of the 60 economies covered by one of the sources amounted to approximately 11.9 billion U.S. dollars, down 71 percent from the 41.7-billion-dollar revenue reported a year earlier. The decline reflects the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak worldwide.

In 2024, the global box office revenue amounted to approximately 30 billion U.S. dollars, out of which more than half – 15.4 billion dollars – came from the international market (without China). Despite being on the rise in comparison to 2022, box office revenues have yet to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels.

According to the most recently available data, the global film industry has suffered a revenue loss of ******billion U.S. dollars as of the middle of March 2020 due to the coronavirus and its impact on industries around the world. With theaters closing, movie premieres being postponed, screenings canceled and box offices closed, the movie industry could also lose another ***billion dollars in revenue if the economic effects of the pandemic continue throughout April and May.

In 2023, the film industry revenue in the Netherlands peaked at approximately 1,489 million euros, up from 1281 million euros a year earlier. The video-on-demand (VoD) segment accounted for most of the Dutch movie industry revenue in 2022, having generated over 1,000 million euros in revenue.

The growth of China's movie industry has slowed down to 15.6 percent in 2017, down from 46.6 percent growth rate in 2015. The total revenue of the whole movie industry in China was expected to surpass 100 billion yuan with a 15.9 percent growth rate in 2019.

In 2022, movie theaters across the United States collectively generated over ** billion U.S. dollars in revenue, of which **** billion dollars alone came from ticket sales. Sales of food and beverage — also known in the cinema industry as concessions — accounted for almost **** billion dollars of the segment's total turnover. Meanwhile, the revenue of the U.S. film and video production and distribution sector reached a record-high ***** billion dollars in 2022.

In the week between June 23 to 29, 2025, Detective Conan: One-eyed Flashback was the highest-grossing movie in China, generating around 154 billion yuan in box office revenue that week. The second place went to She's Got No Name, with around 128 million yuan of ticket sales in that week. How big is the Chinese cinema market? China is one of the largest cinema markets in the world, just second after the United States and Canada. The proliferation of China’s cinema market coincided with an extensive increase in per capita disposable income. Going to the movies has become a regular part of Chinese leisure activities and consumption, especially among young people. To cope with the demands of an increasingly wealthy population, the number of cinema screens expanded almost four times in the recent decade. 3D movie screens also enjoyed explosive growth between 2007 and 2018. As of 2018, the number of 3D movie screens operated in China accounts for almost half of the global total. The struggles of overseas movies China’s film industry is under the direct supervision of the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT). To protect the local movie industry, only a limited number of foreign movies are allowed to be screened in China each year. The quota was set at 34 movies in 2013. Owing to the restriction on foreign films, Hollywood movies are facing more intensive competition against domestic films. Only one Hollywood production remained in the ten highest-grossing movies of all time in China. Foreign movies accounted for about 21 percent of overall ticket sales in the country, showing a gradual downward trend over the recent years.

In 2024, the North American box office revenue generated throughout the year decreased by 3.8 percent in comparison to the previous year. While the box office has been continuously recovering since 2020, it has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. At just under 8.6 billion U.S. dollars, the 2023 figure is under what was recorded in 2019.

As of 2023, the film industry in Italy generated around 531 million euros in revenue, up from about 333 million euros a year earlier. The revenue of the filmed entertainment segment in Italy was forecast to grow by 84.3 percent between 2021 and 2026.

In 2024, Disney alone accounted for over one-quarter (21.4 percent) of the box office revenue in the United States and Canada, thanks to blockbusters such as "Inside Out 2". Universal ranked second in box office market share at about 20 percent. Warner Bros held a share of approximately 13 percent that year. Disney's superpowers The company's performance at the so-called North American box office led to yet another outstanding placement in the U.S.'s mediascape. In 2024, Disney's box office market share once again stood above 25 percent, a milestone the studio has been achieving every other year since the second half of the 2010s. But an overreliance on superhero stories – noticeable since Disney acquired Marvel in 2009 – may have its days counted. The share of moviegoers in the U.S. saying they were getting tired of so many superhero movies grew by six percentage points between mid-2018 and the end of 2021. Who has the range? Diversity in film genres seems to also be important to attract newer audiences. During a mid-2021 survey, over a third of responding Gen Zers said their main motivation for attending movie theaters was a variety of movie offerings. This segment is key for the cinema industry. Historically, the 12-17 age group has been recording the highest average of movies seen per capita in a theater in the U.S. In 2021, the figure stood at 2.5. Among people aged 50 and above, the average stood below one.

The source estimated that Spain's cinema industry would have generated more than 540 million euros in revenue by the end of 2022, up 83 percent from 296 million euros a year earlier. Despite the forecast growth, the 2022 figure would amount to less than 82 percent of the 661-million-euro figure recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak. Spain was among the leading filmed entertainment markets worldwide by revenue in 2020.