Hollywood’s hand strikes; Predicting a tough year for American cinema at the box office

According to Fars Film Reporter, one of the studio owners said to Deadline saying that there is no way that the smoke of the consequences of the chaos created in the Hollywood production process will not hit their eyes: “We have to worry about the first half of 2024.”

He added: “When the fire breaks out, it burns a city and a forest.” But even when the fire subsides, the consequences continue; There are ash heaps and destroyed infrastructure.”

The US film industry was preparing to get back on its feet after the long-lasting impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in a five-month strike in Hollywood that delayed many productions and pushed back the release of many more.

Now, with the start of 2024, the forecasts indicate an eleven percent decrease in movie sales in the new year compared to last year, and according to this studio owner, “the fire is over and now they have to rebuild the city.”

Despite some impressive titles like “The Dune: Part 2” and “Deadpool 3” in the pipeline, Hollywood’s domestic sales are expected to fall 11 percent in 2024, according to Deadline.

The forecast of a drop of $1 billion in the box office in the new year, compared to 2023, when the gross sales were around $9 billion, makes the void of popular titles like “Captain America: The Amazing New World” and “Mission: Impossible 8” even more visible.

While in 2023, the release of the film “Super Mario Brothers” was able to shake the box office in the United States by selling nearly 575 million dollars, but until the release of the two films “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer”, which sold a total of nearly 963 million dollars. , the box office could not bring a smile to the faces of the American theatergoers.

According to Variety’s report on Hollywood’s global box office performance in 2023, the total sales of movies was 33.4 billion dollars, and it is still 26% different from the pre-corona situation.

“Super Mario Brothers” and “Oppenheimer”, which are both products of Universal Company, were able to sell 1.36 billion dollars and 951 million dollars worldwide, respectively, and “Barbie”, a product of Warner Company, which was the best-selling film of the year. It sold 44 billion dollars.

One of the main predictors of a decline in sales in the new year is the fact that only 107 films are on the release calendar in 2024, and the number of titles with wide releases is so low that theaters are still open six weekends of the year. are empty

But last year, 124 films were released, and the box office also hit a stroke of luck with a fun “Barbenheimer” campaign, following the simultaneous release of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” on social media and driving audiences to theaters.

Gower Street Analytics predicts sales of 31.5 billion dollars in 2024, and estimated the global sales of American films in the next year to be negative; Which may cause Hollywood to experience its first annual decline in the post-pandemic era.

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