Movie Theaters Will Rebound To Box Office Record In 2023, Analyst Predicts, Though Vaccine Stumbles Hurt Near Term

Also Read: China and Japan Delivered Half of 2020's Top 10 Box Office Hits for First Time EverWhile “Detective Chinatown 3” is not likely to challenge “Endgame”‘s all-time global record of $2.79 billion, it is well on pace to pass the Marvel blockbuster’s Chinese total of $679 million.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterBattered by the pandemic and the collapse of exhibition windows, the movie theater industry now has one more thing to worry about: a hike in the minimum wage.The industry relies heavily on part-time workers who make at or near the local minimum rate.

It’s been a whopping two months since Evermore was released, so we were due for another big Taylor Swift announcement, weren’t we?

China's comedy tentpole Detective Chinatown 3 is already doing gangbusters business ahead of its release on Friday, the first day of the lucrative Lunar New Year holiday in the country. The wildly anticipated franchise sequel has earned $85 million (RMB 548 million) in advance ticket sales, according to Artisan Gateway, which means Avengers: Endgame's all-time China presales sales record of $95.5 million (RMB 615.3 million) is well within striking distance.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThis month’s Chinese New Year holidays will be a litmus test for the strength of China’s film industry recovery following a period of unprecedented turmoil.This time last year, China’s wrecked Spring Festival celebrations were emblematic of the coronavirus crisis that had dramatically engulfed the world’s most populous nation and was soon to become a global pandemic.

Studio Ghibli released Earwig and the Witch on February 3 in 430 theaters and dropped the animated feature from the legendary studio on HBO Max on February 5. The Goro Miyazaki-directed film with the voice talents of Richard E. Grant, Kacey Musgraves, and Dan Stevens earned an estimated $99,941 on its opening weekend to bring its cume to $132,768

Disney/Pixar’s Soul continues to shine overseas with a $96.2M cume after seven frames. In 11 markets this session, the Pete Docter-helmed original added $6.9M to its international box office kitty with No. 1s again in Russia and Korea. In China, it has surpassed Incredibles 2 to become the market’s 2nd highest-grossing Pixar title ever.

Annika Pham Due to COVID-19 cinema lockdowns or restrictions, box office in the Nordic region plummeted in 2020 year-on-year by 64% in Sweden, 57.6% in Iceland, 57% in Norway, 54% in Finland, and 47% in Denmark.The dearth of new U.S .tentpoles, combined with strong domestic titles such as “Another Round,” allowed homegrown movies to punch all-time record market shares in Denmark (50.4%), Finland (41.1%) and Norway (35.6%).The biggest U.S.

The new movie CODA has set a new Sundance Film Festival record for the biggest sale of all time!

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Brussels-based International Union of Cinemas (UNIC), which represents European cinema’s main trade associations, is launching an appeal for more government support to face an estimated 70.6% drop in total 2020 box office grosses across Europe, which it says accounts for a loss of €6.2 billion ($7.5 billion) in theatrical revenues compared to 2019.“National governments and European institutions have introduced various support schemes since the start

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBox office in Australia fell by 69% in 2020 as the coronavirus outbreak forced cinema closures, capacity restrictions, the postponement of film releases and public health concerns about attending theatres.Data published on Thursday by the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia showed nationwide annual revenues slumped from A$1.23 billion($937 million) in 2019 to just A$401 million ($306 million) in 2020.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentTheatrical box office takings in Japan fell by 45% in 2020, compared with the previous year, as coronavirus took its toll on cinemagoing. But that makes Japan one of the most resilient major box office territories.Data published Wednesday by the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (Eiren) show that total box office was $1.37 billion (JPY143 billion) 45% down on 2019’s $2.5 billion (JPY261 billion).

The Japanese box office plummeted more than 45 percent in 2020 after the novel coronavirus pandemic briefly shuttered cinemas in the country and weighed on moviegoing throughout much of the year. Total ticket sales revenue clocked in at $1.38 billion (143.3 billion yen), down from $2.39 billion (261 billion yen) in 2019, which had set an all-time record.

Liam Neeson's action thriller The Marksman stayed atop the languishing domestic box office in its second weekend with an estimated $2 million. There were no new wide releases as most Hollywood studios continue to delay their high-profile titles amid COVID-19 and continued theater closures, including in the top 10 moviegoing markets.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMildly titillating romantic comedy “Big Red Envelope” topped the box office rankings in China as overall takings in the world’s biggest theatrical movie market amounted to a lowly $37.5 million over the weekend.The new release title may be intended as a critique of obsessions with money, gifting culture and societal status – red packets are gifts of money in Chinese culture, given especially, but not exclusively, at Chinese New Year – but chunks of the audience

The specialty box office found some shine this weekend with four new titles starting with the Gravitas Ventures pic Our Friend starring Jason Segel, Casey Affleck and Dakota Johnson.

Refresh for latest…: Disney/Pixar’s Soul got off to a jazzy start in Korea this weekend, debuting at No. 1 and seeing the second best bow for a non-local title since the Covid pandemic began. The Pete Docter-directed original also launched in Russia, at No. 1, and came in ahead of several pre-Covid animation openings. In total, Soul led the international box office with a $10.4M weekend from 13 markets. See more on Soul below.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaPray for movie theaters.“The Marksman,” a Liam Neeson thriller from Open Road, held onto first place for the second weekend in a row, grossing just over $2 million.

Liam Neeson is holding strong at No. 1!