Market share, revenues and studio budgets for 2024 films

For much of the last two decades or more, Hollywood has relied on PG-13 fare to rally the masses. Putting a picture of a big-budget event with a PG rating could alienate older kids, teens, and young adults (the latter are the most frequent moviegoers). Case in point: remember the choice to change the rating from PG to PG-13 for fourth and fifth Harry Potter movies? The franchise has seen an increase in revenue for the more mature films.

Last year turned that long-held theory on its head, with PG fare — including Universal’s runaway success Wicked — accounting for as much as 30 percent of domestic ticket sales, a record according to Comscore chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “2024 is the year that PG-rated films showed their undeniable appeal to all age groups and demographics,” he says. “It’s the audience’s pizza, and everyone loves it.” Marc Weinstock, Paramount’s president of worldwide distribution and marketing, adds: “This shows that there will always be an audience for family films. Look at this vacation. You have four PG films at the top of the rankings.

To be honest, this change was not intentional. Studios have had to delay many of their PG-13 franchise installments to 2025 and 2026 due to historic strikes and the lingering impact of COVID-19. (Mission: Impossible, Jurassic world And Avatar follow-ups are just three examples.) And some of Hollywood’s most revered filmmakers — among them Francis Ford Coppola, Clint Eastwood and Kevin Costner — couldn’t even get adequate support for their latest films, which didn’t were not really received by critics (in the cases of Coppola and Costner, at least).

It certainly didn’t hurt that Disney’s sprawling film empire, with its formidable family roots, was back in top form after losing the market share crown in 2023 to Universal after nearly a decade of domination. The studio’s titles brought in $5.56 billion in worldwide ticket sales, marking the first time a major has crossed the $5 billion mark since the pandemic. Venturing into R-rated territory for the first time paid off like Disney and Marvel Deadpool and Wolverine – the third installment of Ryan Reynold’s comic book franchise became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time – while Pixar and Disney Inside Out 2 led the PG boom, becoming not only the highest-grossing animated film of the year with nearly $1.7 billion in ticket sales, but also the highest-grossing animated film of all time (not adjusted for inflation). And Walt Disney Animation Moana 2 is almost guaranteed to join Inside Out 2 And Deadpool 3 as the only other 2024 title to join the billion-dollar box office club.

By all accounts, 2024 was also the year that buying the 20th century paid off for Disney, with Extraterrestrial: Romulusthe last Planet of the Apes episode and Oscar nominee of Searchlight A complete stranger make a lot of noise on the big screen. “We are proud of the selection we delivered this year – a collection of high-quality films that offered something for everyone – and audiences really came out in force to enjoy a great time at the cinema for everyone. levels,” said the Disney co-president. Alan Bergman, who heads the company’s film divisions.

Donna Langley, who oversaw Universal Pictures and specialty label Focus Features for years, is also quickly rising through the management ranks and, since November, has had the green light on all of NBCUniversal’s content. She also deserves ample credit for the PG boom of 2024, given that the film adaptation of Wicked has grossed over $424 million to date domestically and $651 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Broadway stage adaptation of all time. She also runs the animation houses Illumination and DreamWorks Animation, both of which became known Despicable Me 4, Kung Fu Panda 4 And The wild robotwhich represent three of the five best animated films of the year. “Special mention must be given to PG-rated animated films which account for a huge number of admissions considering the cheapest child ticket,” says Dergarabedian. Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution, adds: “2024 was certainly a challenging year at the domestic box office, but ultimately an extremely rewarding year. »

In the meantime, The wild robot was among a number of 2024 films that held up in theaters despite arriving relatively quickly at home via premium video-on-demand, proving that shrinking windows can potentially benefit all parties. Universal was a leader in collapsing windows in the early days of COVID. Sources from several studios say that a film intended for purchase or rental on PVOD can last better in theaters thanks to advertising from third parties, such as Amazon Prime or Apple TV+. The wild robot was available on PVOD just 18 days after its theatrical release, but it continued to be shown on over 2,000 screens for the following weeks. Sources say Universal achieved similar results in terms of winning at the box office Twists And The fall guy. Among many other examples, that of Paramount Gladiator II also saw box office increases when it moved to PVOD during the holiday season.

Dergarabedian notes that the year-over-year deficit in domestic box office revenue stood at an alarming 27.5 percent before Inside Out 2 open in mid-June and one month later dead Pool. He talks about the rebound that started in the summer and picked up in earnest at Thanksgiving when Wicked And Gladiator II opened, followed in the Christmas corridor with Mufasa: The Lion King And Sonic the Hedgehog 3was simply remarkable. “The final six weeks of 2024 have delivered one of the most eclectic and compelling film selections ever to grace this all-important corridor, with films for all tastes and ages generating a huge amount of box office heat which makes the year last. a positive note,” he says, pointing to other holiday titles such as Focus Features’ edgy R-rated vampire pic. Nosferatu, A complete stranger and Nicole Kidman Award Nominee Little girl.

If the estimates are correct, domestic revenue for 2024 would be about $8.75 billion, down 3.3% from last year’s $9.04 billion. And it’s a safe bet that 2025 could cross the $9 billion mark again, but that’s still significantly below pre-pandemic levels of $11 billion.

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While domestic revenues have seen a huge recovery, overseas the situation has been different, where the decline has been much worse. China is one of the biggest culprits, with double-digit revenue declines. The problem is compounded by the fact that Hollywood films are no longer popular in the Middle Kingdom, where audiences prefer to see local dishes. And Russia remains closed to major Hollywood studios, out of allegiance to Ukraine.

Studio Market Share Dashboard

The Disney film studios, led by Bergman, reclaimed their number one position in terms of market share, thanks to a series of films that broke record after record, including Inside Out 2 And Deadpool and Wolverine. These are the only two films of the year to exceed $1 billion worldwide. That’s not to say that Disney was the only box office hero. Universal had another very good year as Langley gained more power in the larger NBCU empire. And while Warner Bros. had a big problem with Todd Phillips’ film Joker Subsequently, it ranked second overseas in terms of market share. Warners, as well as deserves credit for sustaining the first part of the year with Dune: Part 2 And Godzilla x Kong: The New Kingdom.

Specialized ticketing dashboard

Osgood Perkins Long legs exceeded expectations when it opened in July to $22.6 million domestically, the best 2024 debut for an original horror film amid Neon’s best start (that’s saying a lot, considering that the Tom Quinn’s outfit is home to Oscar winners including Parasite). The R-rated film became the highest-grossing independent film of the calendar year with $74.6 million in ticket sales domestically and $126.9 million worldwide. It also reflects the disturbing truth that independent distributors can’t rely on arthouses and awards alone; high genre fare like Long legs or A24 Civil war can pay a company to keep the lights on. Focus Features’ Vampire Peak Nosferatu is yet another example (he debuted with a better-than-expected $40 million). It’s not necessarily a new trend, but it has become a more important weapon in the war against streamers. Clearly, awards season is more important than ever for specialty businesses. Searchlight worked great with Poor things last year and hopes to do just as well this year with Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan biopic, A complete strangerwhich opened with promising numbers over the holidays. And Neon’s Oscar hope Anora has earned $14 million in the United States to date.

Animation makes history with a capital “A”

Many feared that families would never return to the multiplex after COVID-19 and the rise of streaming. Don’t worry anymore. There has been no time in modern box office history when animated films made up three of the five highest-grossing titles of the year – through 2024 – or contributed that much to the total. Usually, large live tent poles dominate.

This story first appeared in the January 3 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.