The box office is recovering, and although it's still not back to pre-pandemic levels yet, it's getting close.
According to the latest data from Comscore, total domestic box office grosses have hit $2.40 billion so far this year, just 16% below 2019's $2.85 billion over that same time period.
For context, the 2022 domestic box office brought in an estimated $7.5 billion, representing a roughly 70% year-over-year increase but still 30% below pre-pandemic levels, when total North American ticket sales hit $11 billion.
The top films of 2023 have centered on strong franchises, with "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" nabbing the highest year-to-date gross of $371.2 million domestically.
"The gap is quickly narrowing between 2023's revenues and pre-pandemic 2019 as 'Mario' has turbocharged the box office," Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told Yahoo Finance in an email.
"With a massive summer season right around the corner, this is a perfect momentum-building marketplace for movie theaters," he said, adding, "Even with six fewer wide-release titles than in 2019 at this point, many over-performing films have contributed to these promising [year-to-date] figures."
Foot-traffic patterns have also pointed to increased demand, despite higher ticket prices due to both inflation and the desire to see more films in premium formats like IMAX or 3D.
According to analytics platform Placer.ai, movie theater foot-traffic patterns have maintained a positive trajectory, with theatrical foot traffic up a whopping 322% in February of this year versus January 2021. Foot traffic peaked in July 2022, up nearly 900% compared to January 2021, as consumers embraced the summer movie season following the releases of films like "Minions: The Rise of Gru," "Thor: Love and Thunder," and "Top Gun: Maverick."
Most anticipated summer movies
Similar to last year, theaters will be looking for that extra summer boost, with buzzy titles like Disney's (DIS) "The Little Mermaid" and Warner Bros.' (WBD) "Barbie" set for theatrical releases.
According to a new Fandango study, which surveyed more than 6,000 ticket buyers between February and March, 86% of moviegoers said they plan to see more movies on the big screen this summer compared to last year – with 81% planning to see three or more films in theaters.
Here are the most anticipated summer releases, according to the Fandango report:
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
The Flash
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
The Little Mermaid
Fast X
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Haunted Mansion
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
Alexandra Canal is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alliecanal8193 and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com
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