This Year's North American Box Office Hits Lowest in Over 40 Years

Box Office Tracking Agency Comscore
Box Office Record This Year at $2.28 Billion, Down 80% Compared to Last Year

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] This year, the North American movie theater box office revenue recorded its lowest level in over 40 years.

On the 29th (local time), CNBC cited data from box office tracking agency Comscore, announcing that this year's box office revenue was $2.28 billion (approximately 2.5 trillion KRW).

This is an 80% decrease compared to last year's $11.4 billion (approximately 12.5 trillion KRW), which was the second highest box office record ever.

CNBC explained, "This year's box office is the lowest figure recorded by Comscore in about 40 years of tracking."

The poor performance of this year's box office is mainly attributed to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which caused theaters to close and audiences to avoid visiting crowded facilities.

In fact, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the box office in January this year was $907 million, a 10% increase compared to the same period last year, and in February it was $651 million, showing a 4% increase.

However, in March, when COVID-19 spread, the box office dropped 73% to $258 million, and since April, the monthly box office has not exceeded $100 million, showing poor performance.

The film industry expects the situation to improve next year as more audiences visit theaters due to the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, and blockbuster movies postponed from this year will be released one after another.

CNBC also reported that the meaningful box office performance of 'Wonder Woman 1984,' the only blockbuster during last Christmas season, supports this optimistic outlook.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.