The summer numbers are in, and fear now stalks the corridors of Hollywood, with ticket sales down on last year, and a lot down from the year before that.
According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, this is seen as something of a disaster, with one executive referring to it as a “worst case scenario” and saying studios are growing concerned for the future.
The $3.6 billion take is not where they needed things to be after a $4.09 billion haul in 2023, and the driving factor is not a lack of content, but a lack of audience.
This summer, only one weekend out-performed the previous year, and that was the weekend of the release of Superman.
Overseas, the eastern markets of China, Japan and Korea have seen demand for Western movies collapse as they turn their back on Hollywood.
Overseas was a real profit driver for Hollywood studios in the past. Before the COVID close down, eight of the top ten highest-grossing studio movies in a year earned over 60% of their total earnings from the overseas box office.
This year, only three movies hit that number.
Meanwhile, more than a third of those surveyed by JustWatch Media said they will wait for a streaming release rather than get out to the movies.
Grim reading if you are an accountant in Hollywood.
