U.S. Movie Box-Office Revenues Down 81% For 2020, Pullback On TV Ads

The U.S. theatrical movie business will end 2020 with a pandemic-crushing 81% decline to $2.1 billion in box-office revenues, according to IMDb’s Box Office Mojo.

Box-office revenues were $11.3 billion at the end of 2019.

The cinema movie chains have been severely hurt by the pandemic. Many theaters have been closed for much of the year -- from in mid-March through September. Since September, movies theater chains have partially opened, with mostly limited seat availability.

For 2020, movie studios released half the number of films it did in 2019 -- 455 versus 911.

The biggest individual box-office revenue movie: Sony Pictures Entertainment’s “Bad Boys of Life” -- taking in $206.3 million in the U.S. and $426.5 million worldwide. It was released January 17, two months before the pandemic caused major business and other economic disruptions.

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Due to major theater closures, movie studios dramatically cut back on national TV advertising spending in 2020 -- an estimated $682.9 million -- sharply down from $2.3 billion in 2019, according to iSpot.tv. 

Big studio spenders in 2020: Universal Pictures, $130.4 million; Warner Bros.’, $95.8 million; DreamWorks Animation, $78.0 million; Walt Disney (Marvel, Disney/Pixar, Walt Disney Studios), $73.4 million; Paramount Pictures, $66.4 million; Fox Corp, $54.4 million (Twentieth Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures); and Columbia Pictures, $50.5 million. 

Biggest marketed movies in terms of national TV advertising spending: Universal’s “The Croods: A New Age,” $42 million; Disney/Pixar’s “Onward,” $38.7 million; Universal’s “Trolls World Tour,” $31.8 million; Twentieth Century Studios’ “The Call of the Wild,” $27.4 million; and Warner Bros.’ “Wonder Woman 1984,” $26.1 million.

Though originally scheduled for theatrical release, Universal opted to exclusively stream “Trolls World Tour” in the spring, due to theater closures. Universal’s “The Croods: A New Age” was streamed three weeks after its theatrical release on Thanksgiving weekend.

Warner Bros.’ “Wonder Woman 1984,” released on December 25, was part of a major decision to boost the studio’s streaming business in the wake of ongoing U.S. theaters issues -- releasing the film in theaters and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max premium streaming service simultaneously. The studio will be releasing its entire 2021 schedule of 17 films the same way.

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