2024 was, overall, a mixed year at the box office. Things started off on a dreadful note as the first half of the year was filled with failures, disappointments, and films that just couldn’t carry the load after the 2023 SAG and WGA strikes completely upended the release schedule. Fortunately, things changed in the second half thanks to blockbuster films like “Wicked”, “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2” which reversed the trend. Despite all this, the global box office finished well below that of 2023, slowing the sector’s recovery in the wake of 2020’s lockdowns. At the same time, streaming’s place as the future was more firmly cemented.
According to Gower Street Analytics (via Deadline), the global box office total for 2024 was $30 billion, down from $33.9 billion in 2023. This figure includes $8.75 billion from domestic ticket sales, down from 2023, where this figure exceeded $9 billion. In light of the strikes and slow start to last year, this figure could have been much worse. There’s a lot to say about this, and we’ll get to it a little more in a moment. But there’s one telling statistic that helps put it all into perspective: namely, Netflix’s total revenue for the fiscal year ending September 2024 was $37.5 billion (or, to put it another way , 25% more than last year’s total worldwide box office).
It’s definitely a bit of an apples-to-oranges equation, as Netflix is a subscription streaming service that offers both movies and TV shows to attract customers. That said, if there was any question about which part of the business is most important to Hollywood’s future, it shouldn’t arise.
It’s also clear that Netflix is the king of the streaming wars, despite being just one of many competitors in this space. Not to mention Disney+, Hulu, Max, Paramount+ or Peacock, not to mention smaller services like Shudder. Overall, streaming absolutely eclipses the movie theater market.
Box office remains strong, even as streaming remains the dominant force
Although revenue does not equate to profit, Netflix has, unsurprisingly, become very profitable in recent times, having recorded more than $17 billion in profit in the fiscal year ending September 2024. This represents an increase 31% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, many theater chains are struggling to keep the lights on, with Regal’s parent company Cineworld filing for bankruptcy in 2022 and AMC, the world’s largest theater chain, currently struggling with billions in debts. There was also an explosive development last year when Sony Pictures purchased the popular Alamo Drafthouse theater chain. This may help the company survive, but it also means that a major studio is now directly invested in movie theaters, which complicates things.
This may help explain why Netflix doesn’t care so much about releasing its films theatrically, even though theater owners would welcome Netflix films with open arms (under the right conditions). The streamer generally only releases its films theatrically to ensure they are eligible for awards and/or to satisfy certain filmmakers. He just doesn’t care about the box office.
That being said, the box office remains extremely important to the future health of the film industry, including streaming. We’ve seen time and time again that theatrically released films do better on streaming. This is an almost universal rule, even if the film in question is a failure in theaters. For example, Nicolas Cage’s “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” recently rose to the top 10 on the Netflix charts two and a half years after its theatrical release. So yes, Netflix originals like “Back in Action” will have their moment in the sun, but will they have the same kind of staying power? Even right now, Netflix’s top 10 movies are dominated by the films “Despicable Me,” “Hotel Transylvania 2,” “Trolls Band Together” and “The Boss Baby.”
So yes, streaming is undoubtedly the future of Hollywood and, until something drastically changes, Netflix is the king of that future. But without a healthy theatrical market, it will be harder to make Hollywood work. Studios need that revenue and, more importantly, films need the word of mouth that comes with a theatrical release. It remains a symbiotic relationship, even if there is a clearly dominant force on one side of the equation.
