Hits like “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and “Top Gun: Maverick” may have helped boost box office sales in 2022, but they didn’t rescue the industry from a lackluster year.
New estimates show that the domestic box office will reach around $7.35 billion for 2022, down 33 percent from 2019 when ticket sales brought in over $11 billion.
While the number is still up 68 percent from 2021, many Americans are turning to their streaming services again to avoid having to leave the house.
While the COVID-19 pandemic may be to blame for some of the low profits, many in the entertainment industry seem to think the lack of desirable outcomes is the biggest concern.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was one of the biggest blockbusters of the year, grossing more than $420 million domestically for The Walt Disney Company
Margot Robbie’s “Babylon” opened on Christmas weekend with less than $5 million
Movie ticket sales over the Christmas weekend totaled $86 million from Friday through Sunday, according to ComScore, down nearly 70 percent from 2021 when Spider-Man: No Way Home topped the charts.
Avatar: The Way of Water emerged as the weekend’s winner, raking in $56 million over the holiday weekend.
Even the production company behind the year’s biggest domestic film, Top Gun: Maverick ($718 million), had its problems.
“We’re still emerging from the COVID fog,” Paramount Pictures executive Brian Robbins said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
“There are a couple of films where we’re just about there,” Robbins said.
The studio still managed to capture five of the top 25 spots on the domestic box office list for 2025 with Maverick, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($190 million), Smile ($105 million), The Lost City” ($105 million) and “Scream” ($81 million).
Despite those numbers, the Paramount exec said he believes current production has yet to bring back the full scope of potential customers in the post-pandemic world.
“Other than the big tent poles, genre films and some family films, I don’t think we’ve seen audiences fully return,” Robbins said.
Top Gun: Maverick grossed more than $718 million domestically as of 2022
Tom Cruise led Paramount Pictures to their greatest film of all time with Top Gun: Maverick
The film grossed more than $1.4 billion at the global box office
Robbins may have also weighed in on the uninspiring performances of some star-powered non-legacy films that have faltered.
Margot Robbie, Christian Bale and John David Washington’s ($14 million) ‘Amsterdam’, directed by David O’Russell, has lost millions after costing more than $80 million to produce, and that’s despite the litany from Co -Stars like Rami Malek and Robert De Niro , Anya Taylor-Joy, Taylor Swift, Michael Shannon.
Similarly, Robbie’s Babylon, directed by Damien Chazelle, grossed a staggeringly low $3.5 million on its debut weekend over the Christmas holiday.
Brad Pitt, Jean Smart and Tobey McGuire star alongside Robbie in the “La La Land” director’s $110 million film.
Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt star in Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, which grossed just $3.5 million in its opening weekend. The film cost $110 million to make
One of the year’s biggest winners was The Walt Disney Company, which thanks to “Wakanda Forever” (427 million ($411 million).
However, the same company also suffered huge losses on the animation sign with Strange World ($35 million) with an estimated loss of $100 million and Lightyear ($226 million) with a production budget of $200 million. accept dollars.
The box office numbers for Lightyear may have been skewered after the film found itself in the midst of Florida’s Don’t Say Gay controversy.
The film originally featured a kiss between two female characters, which was briefly removed and then reinstated by Disney executives.
Disney’s Strange World grossed just $35 million and was released on Disney+ a month after its theatrical debut
Disney and Pixar’s “Lightyear,” an offshoot of the “Toy Story” franchise, recouped its production budget but only made $26 million
The film was caught in the middle of Florida’s Don’t Say Gay law and was criticized for showing, removing and then reintroducing a kiss between two female characters
Just behind Disney in the box office winner category was Universal Pictures, which achieved a domestic 1.6 thanks to the sequels Jurassic World: Dominion ($376 million) and Minions: The Rise of Gru ($369 million). grossed billions of dollars.
Jordan Peele’s latest foray into the horror-suspense category, NOPE, ranked 14th on the list of highest-grossing films at $114 million.
Alternatively, Billy Eichner’s gay comedy “Bros” made Universal domestically just $11 million after costing $22 million.
Paramount Pictures was third on the list with $1.3 billion, followed by Warner Bros. Pictures with $934 million and Sony with $854 million.
A disappointing year for Warner Bros., which made more than half of its domestic box office earnings from The Batman ($369 million) and Black Adam ($168 million).
Warner Bros. also released Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in April for just $95 million, a significant drop from previous films in the Harry Potter universe.
HIT: Disney’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness grossed $411 million domestically
FLOP: “Lightyear” just barely turned a profit after costing more than $200 million to make
HIT: “Avatar: The Way of Water” grossed $279 million as of Christmas Day
FLOP: Universal Pictures’ “Bros” grossed just $11 million
HIT: Thor: Love and Thunder grossed just over $340 million upon its July release
FLOP: Although it cost more than $80 million to make, “Amsterdam” only grossed $14 million
HIT: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery had the best of both worlds with a limited release in theaters and a wide release on Netflix in December
FLOP: Sony’s “Morbius” grossed just $74 million domestically
Overall, only 71 films received a full “wide release” in North America in 2022.
According to ComScore, the average domestic gross box office for a film in 2022 was just over $100 million.
Netflix and Rian Johnson’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery got the “best of both worlds” in 2022 after a limited theatrical release in November and a streaming service debut in December.
The film, starring Daniel Craig, Kate Hudson, Janelle Monae, Dave Bautista, Kathryn Hahn and Edward Norton, only had a one week run in less than 700 theaters but grossed $13 million.
Other studios have skipped the limited release and gone straight to streaming services.
Hulu released Prey, the latest installment in the Predator franchise, while Pixar and Disney debuted Turning Red straight to Disney+ in March.
Netflix’s “Glass Onion” grossed $13 million after being in theaters for just a week
The film debuted in just 696 theaters nationwide before releasing on Netflix on December 23