Cinema’s revival is anything but fast and furious
A string of blockbusters and the easing of pandemic restrictions could not save Hollywood from another bruising year at the box office.
A string of blockbusters and the easing of pandemic restrictions could not save Hollywood from another bruising year at the box office.
In North America, overall 2021 revenues are projected to reach dollars 4.4 billion, according to the analyst Comscore. That would be a 91 per cent rise on last year when cinemas closed at times.
But 2019 paints a truer picture. The overall gross for the final pre-pandemic year was dollars 11.39 billion. Takings were boosted by crowd-pleasers including Avengers: Endgame and Toy Story 4.
In the UK and Ireland 2021 was much the same as across the pond. According to the website Box Office Mojo, the domestic gross is about dollars 712 million, with the Bond film No Time To Die the top release. That dwarfs the dollars 433 million from 2020, but is well short of the dollars 1.6 billion in 2019.
Many in the industry had hoped for a stronger recovery but there were bright spots. Spider-Man: No Way Home swung on to screens this month and sales surged past the billion-dollar mark, the first film to do so since the pandemic. The Marvel films Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings grossed dollars 379 million and dollars 432 million respectively. And No Time To Die took dollars 774 million. A Quiet Place Part II and Fast & Furious 9 also performed well.
David A Gross, who runs Franchise Entertainment Research, described 2021 as a “start” for cinema’s comeback but said: “There are still these important parts of the business that are not close to being back yet. We have to get to a place where this pandemic is thought of as a seasonal flu. We might be talking about years.”
Studios have blockbusters in the wings. The Batman starring Robert Pattinson is due in March, the Black Panther sequel in November and Jurassic World: Dominion in June.
Blockbuster or bust
Spider-Man: No Way Home (Cost: dollars 200 million Global box office: dollars 1 billion+)
The clear winner of the pandemic, equalling the pre-Covid Spider-Man film Far From Home.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (Cost: dollars 110 million Global box office: dollars 501 million)
Another Marvel film, released in September. Despite mixed reviews it was the second Covid-era title to break dollars 200 million.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Cost: dollars 150 million Global box office: dollars 432 million)
Shang-Chi debuted exclusively in cinemas in September and led Disney to follow suit with other films.
Black Widow (Cost: dollars 200 million Global box office: dollars 360 million)
After several delays, Scarlett Johansson’s superhero vehicle (again, Marvel) was released in June as cinemas began to reopen. Takings were disappointing for an A-list movie and it was put on streaming services in October.
No Time to Die (Cost: dollars 250 million Global box office: dollars 774 million)
Hailed as cinema’s saviour, Daniel Craig’s last outing as James Bond was put on streaming platforms two months after release and has not matched the takings of Spectre (dollars 900 million) or Skyfall (dollars 1 billion).
Fast & Furious 9 (Cost: dollars 200 million Global box office: dollars 726 million)
The ninth instalment in the franchise starring Vin Diesel.
The Times
