Hollywood strikes hurt Australian cinema box office receipts but $1bn mark on its way in 2025

The Australian cinema sector was hurt by Hollywood strikes which left box office receipts for 2024 under the $1bn mark, but optimism is high for 2025 | SEE WHAT’S COMING

Deadpool & Wolverine was the top movie in 2024, raking in $43m at the box office in Australia

Forget dramas and comedies, thrillers and science fiction – the 2024 box office was all about an R-rated blockbuster and cartoons.

The top-grossing films in Australia in 2024 represented a diverse mix of genres, topped by Deadpool & Wolverine, which raked in $43m, and two animated movies, Inside Out 2 ($37m) and Despicable Me 4 ($29m)

The musical Wicked ($23m) and science fiction franchise Dune: Part Two ($22m) rounded off the top five movies in a year when the box office came in below expectations, with the impact of the Hollywood actors and writers strikes reducing the number of movies released for the big screen.

However, with a raft of blockbusters scheduled to be released in 2025 the sector is expecting to break the $1bn barrier for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to reporting platform Numero, the gross Australian box office for 2024 was $960.7m, about 2.6 per cent below the $985.6m achieved in 2023.

Several box office records were broken, including Inside Out 2 as the highest grossing animated film in Australia and Moana 2 as the highest grossing summer animated title to date.

Members of the Hollywood actors SAG-AFTRA union walk a picket line with screenwriters outside of Paramount Studios in 2023. Picture: Getty Images

However, there were also box office disappointments, with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Madam Web and Argyll all failing to live up to expectations.

Cinema Association Australasia executive director Cameron Mitchell said more than 55 million movie tickets were sold over the 12 months, with the release of Moana 2, Wicked and Gladiator II combining for the year’s biggest weekend in November when 1.4 million tickets were sold.

Despite the box office gross failing to reach the $1bn mark in 2024, Mr Mitchell said it was still an “exceptional result” in the wake of the 2023 strikes.

“There were 266 days of cumulative strike action which put production behind, so it was a great result in those circumstances,” he said. “Cinema remains one of the most affordable out-of-home entertainment options, (which is) even more apparent when comparisons are made to concerts and sporting events.

“The Australian average cinema ticket price is one of the lowest globally when benchmarked against the local minimum wage, representing less than 80 per cent of the minimum hourly wage.

“Five of Australia’s eight highest-grossing films of all time have been released in the last four years, and with the stabilised line-up of releases across a diverse range of genres and languages, guests are embracing the Australian cinema experience.”

Moana 2 pulled in a healthy $29m at the Australian box office.

The 2024 gross global box office is estimated to be about $US30.5bn ($49bn), with 2025 forecast to increase by 8 per cent to reach a projected $US33bn.

This year, film studios will be delivering blockbusters such as Avatar: Fire and Ash; Jurassic World: Rebirth; Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning; Superman; A Minecraft Movie; Wicked: For Good and three Marvel films.

Independent Cinemas Australia chief executive Brett Rosengarten – whose members operate 640 screens across the country – said the signs for 2025 were “incredibly positive” after a year of fewer released movies because of the 2023 strikes delaying production for up to 15 months.

“I don’t know if we will get to a record but I’m very bullish that we will get over $1bn, and get our biggest post-Covid result,” he said.

However, the sector remains some way off breaking both attendance and box office records.

According to Screen Australia, the year with the most cinema admissions was 91.3 million in 2016 and best gross box office was $1.25bn in 2018.

Since then, the advent of streaming and the pandemic had a devastating impact on box office receipts, causing a wave of regional and city cinemas to close their doors.

Last year, the Majestic Cinemas chain in NSW and Queensland went into voluntary administration, although a number of theatres have been reopened with new owners.

Mr Rosengarten said after a tough period the sector was “settling down”.

“What we are seeing is people (cinema operators) are getting back into profit,” he said.

“It’s not the glory days yet but we’re heading in the right direction. My feeling is that we’ve seen the worse of it now.

“People are coming back to the movies. Five of the top 10 highest ever grossing movies of all time have been released since the end of the pandemic.

“It’s significantly more expensive to take the family to the footy or other forms of entertainment than the cinema.”