2017 Box Office Totals: $11.09 billion Isn’t Enough

January 20, 2018

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

NATO, the North American Theater Owners, have released their annual box office numbers, and 2017 had some mixed results. The total box office was down 2.55% to $11.09 billion, which is the third-biggest yearly box office total of all time, behind $11.12 billion earned in 2015 and $11.37 billion earned in 2016. Meanwhile, ticket prices rose 4% to $8.97. This means total attendance was 1.236 billion, the lowest since 1995. That is troubling, but not as apocalyptic as some have made it out to be, as it is only 2.7% lower than 2014’s attendance figure. Obviously, we would like to see increases in this figure every year, but we shouldn’t panic just yet. If 2018 bounces back, then we can still say the overall box office is healthy. If we see another 6-point drop in attendance in 2018, then we can panic.

As for studios Disney led the way with $2.4 billion and had the two biggest hits of the year domestically, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Beauty and the Beast. In fact, they had four films in the top ten, while the only other studios with more than one film in the top ten were Warner Bros. and Sony. Warner Bros. was the only other studio to hit $2 billion. On the other hand, Sony’s share of the domestic box office was below 10% for the third year in a row, so studio heads will be looking to turn things around in 2018.

It was much more apocalyptic with Paramount. Their biggest hit of the year was Transformers: The Last Knight, which only managed 23rd place on the domestic chart and it will very likely drop at least one more spot, as Lionsgate’s Wonder is about to surpass it. Paramount has been the weakest of the Big Six since they lost the distribution rights to the Marvel movies and last year Lionsgate was well ahead of them. This isn't a short term trend either and Lionsgate is arguably a bigger theatrical force than Paramount at this point. When the Disney / A HREF=https://www.the-numbers.com/market/distributor/20th-Century-Fox>Fox merger is complete, Lionsgate will have earned a spot in the Big Six.

On a much more positive note, 2017 was the third best year when it comes to diversity of distributors. There were 25 studios that had at least one film hit the top ten during the year, including distributors like STX Entertainment, A24, the generically named Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, and the Bollywood distributor Great India Films. This is down from 26 last year and 29 in 2015, but again it is the third-best year on record. In fact, the average so far for the 2010 has been just over 22 distributors earning top 10 hits, compared to just under 20 in the 2000s and just over 15 in the 1990s. It has never been easier for an indie studio to find a mainstream audience. Add in VOD and the Big Six’s grip on the movie industry has never been more flimsy.

- The theatrical market in 2017

Filed under: Analysis, Wonder, Star Wars Ep. VIII: The Last Jedi, Marvel Cinematic Universe