The 2023 global box office hauled in $33.9 billion, still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels. Movie Producer Chris Fenton tells Yahoo Finance Live that the number is expected to drop even more in 2024, especially domestically where revenue projections are "back to 2001/2002 levels for [the] US box office, so it's definitely something concerning."
While international markets have rebounded closer to normal levels, the Feeding the Dragon author says the US box office "is really hurting." He notes several blockbuster titles like Dune: Part Two could boost revenues, but adds "there's simply not enough of them to keep the theaters full."
Fenton believes theater operators such as AMC (AMC) are facing potential bankruptcy as a result.
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Editor's note: This article was written by Angel Smith.
Video Transcript
SEANA SMITH: Let's talk movies here for the year. The Global Box Office hitting nearly $34 in 2023. That's according to the latest numbers from Gower Street Analytics. That's up 31% from 2022, but still lags pre-pandemic levels. Estimates are now out for 2024. And we're expecting a drop this year from last year's levels due in part to the Hollywood strikes earlier this year. With more on that, we want to bring in Chris Fenton.
Chris is a movie producer and author of the Hollywood business book, "Feeding the Dragon." Chris, it's great to have you. So let's first start big picture in terms of what you are expecting at the box office this year. Are we going to see a bit of a dip compared to last year's numbers?
CHRIS FENTON: Yeah. Well, what's interesting is the international box office is crawling back to pre-pandemic levels, like you said. But the domestic box office is really hurting. And if you look at the actual estimate for next year at $8 billion and even this year, which hit $9 billion, you're back to 2001, 2002 levels for US box office. So it's definitely something concerning.
SEANA SMITH: When it comes to the fact that there aren't many maybe potential blockbusters here for the year, those, though, that you think could do potentially well. What are they? And why do you think it's going to resonate a bit better with audience?
CHRIS FENTON: Well, I'm particularly excited about the sequel to "Dune." That was a fantastic first film. And there's a lot of great expectations around that. There's also a "Lion King" sequel coming up. There's some particularly interesting original films coming up, like, for instance, "Civil War" and "Argylle" from Matthew Vaughn, who brought the "Kick-ass" series. And then on top of it, you do have stalwarts like the "Deadpool" series that's coming out again next year too.
So there's a lot of expectation around some of these franchises that are popping up in 2024. But there's just simply not enough of them to keep the theaters full.
SEANA SMITH: And when it comes to the outlook, and, specifically, the outlook here for theaters, AMC is one of the tickers that tends to trend a lot here at "Yahoo Finance" given the fact that so many retail investors continue to be interested in the names. But AMC hitting all-time lows this week. What do you think the future holds for a company like AMC given the fact that a lot of these theater chains are struggling to get people back into the theater?
CHRIS FENTON: Yeah. Well, I particularly love this conversation. Because when you look at what the Hollywood studios make, it's super premium content. That's what I refer to it as. And there's only 100 units of that made a year by the major studios and the big streamers. So that's 10,000 minutes of content. And then if you look at the amount of content made in a single year in today's world, there's more content made in 365 days than there are in the whole previous history of human mankind.
So if you've got 10,000 minutes of that Hermes Kelly bag, that luxury brand, it's going to work. The question is, where are people going to consume that super premium content? And if I had to guess, I, unfortunately, think AMC will probably go bankrupt this year. But you will see luxury branded bricks and mortar exhibition like IMAX really pop to the next level because that is that luxury brand. And it coincides with the luxury brand of what the Hollywood studios are making, as far as content is concerned.
