China Box Office Drops To $4.4B In 2022 Amid Covid Swings, Lack Of Product

A24’s The Whale crossed the $11-million mark in week six as it jumped to 1,500 screens from 835 as the Brendan Fraser-starrer and other contenders continue to tweak theatrical runs through awards season.

Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water continues to outdo itself having crossed $1.8B globally and reaching nearly $1.9B at the worldwide box office through this weekend.

Japanese studio Toei announced today that its total box office revenue reached a record Yen32.56BN (US$246.6M) for the calendar year 2022, partly thanks to the strong performances of anime blockbusters One Piece Film Red and The First Slam Dunk. 

Broadway box office took the expected drop last week, declining nearly 30% (to $37,394,931) from the previous week’s holiday-pumped $52M figure. Attendance for the 32 shows was down about 12% (to 275,834), but remained at a solid 92% of total capacity.

A flying ace, rampaging dinosaurs, Marvel, DC, Minions and battling blue aliens on a distant planet were among the highlights of 2022 for the Hollywood studios at the global and international box office. Still, it was yet another year of transition, with worldwide grosses reaching an estimated $26B — a 27% increase on 2021 but 35% off the pre-pandemic three-year average, according to Gower Street Analytics. The upward trajectory also occurred overseas as some markets came back strongly, while others struggled and exchange rates went wild.

Reading the tea leaves with regard to China in 2023 is even more difficult than usual. The country’s about-face on its longstanding zero-Covid policy has implications from geopolitics to economics and, closer to home for Hollywood, the state of the market after a dismal 2022. Exactly what those implications are is where the guesswork comes in.

Sony’s Tom Hanks-starrer A Man Called Otto banked $4.2 million in a lively second frame as it moved to 637 locations nationwide from four in NY and LA. Strong word of mouth propelled moviegoers into seats with particular strength in the heartland and momentum looks good as the adult drama/comedy heads into next week’s wide expansion for the holiday weekend. It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day next Monday.   

Refresh for latest…: That was fast. Coming out of its fourth weekend of release, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has topped $1.7B globally and become the No. 7 biggest movie of all time worldwide.

Global box office for 2022 reached nearly $26B, a 27% gain on the previous year, according to Gower Street Analytics. Of the estimated $25.9B total, the international box office represents $18.4B, a 16% increase on last year at current exchange rates, the total being dragged down by China. Stripping out that market, overseas is estimated at $14.1B for a 55% hike on 2021. Domestic was up 65% to $7.5B for a 65% increase, per Gower’s partners at comScore.

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has now officially, and as projected, crossed the $1 billion mark at the international box office with Tuesday’s grosses included. What’s more for this 20th Century Studios/Disney juggernaut, at $1,482.5M worldwide through Tuesday, the epic sci-fi sequel is next on its way to yet another milestone and will top $1.5B global when today’s numbers are factored. In doing so, it will become the No. 1 worldwide release of 2022, surpassing Top Gun: Maverick’s $1.489B.

Hong Kong’s box office managed to stage a partial recovery in the second half of 2022, despite cinemas being closed for nearly four months earlier in the year, due to US titles including Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way Of Water and a strong line-up of local movies.

No surprise here: Walt Disney is the No. 1 studio at the box office, not just worldwide with $4.9 billion, but also domestic with $2 billion and overseas with $2.9 billion. This comes after an initial New Year’s weekend which saw Avatar: The Way of Water overperforming, that pic contributing close to $1 billion abroad. It’s the 7th consecutive year that Disney ahs been No. 1 at the global box office, from 2016-2022.

French cinemas amassed nearly 152 million admissions in 2022, new data from the National Cinema Center (CNC) shows. That’s an estimated 26.9% off the pre-pandemic three-year average (2017-2019), and an estimated 59.2% hike on 2021 which endured 138 days of movie theater closures. France reports its box office in terms of admissions, however, the total for the year is expected to exceed $1 billion.

Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water rang in the New Year with another $186.7M from 52 international markets for a $1.379B global cume to date. Excluding China, the film rose 4% from last weekend’s Christmas frame offshore (including China it was even with last session). The international box office now stands at an estimated $957M, meaning Way of Water will cross $1B overseas early this week. 

Refresh for latest…: James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water is close on its way to the $1B global box office mark, having more than handily crossed $900M worldwide through its second Monday. This is the latest benchmark for the highly-anticipated sequel, and comes just 13 days after global rollout began. With $955.1M through Monday, The Way of Water has become the No. 3 highest-grosser of 2022 and the No. 4 biggest film of the pandemic era. What’s more, it is expected to hit the $1B worldwide milestone with today’s turnout. 

It’s The Economy, Stupid

Coming out of its second weekend, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has banked an estimated $855.4M globally through Sunday. The sophomore session added $168.6M at the international box office in 52 markets for a $601.7M running cume.