• by Wayne Friedman , April 2, 2023

Against strong March competition, Paramount Pictures’ “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” took in a solid $38.5 million in its U.S./Canada box-office debut -- replacing powerful “John Wick: Chapter 4,” now in its second week, according to Comscore.

The broader U.S./Canada theatrical movie business continues its steady improvement from the depths of the pandemic period.

Comscore says year-to-date revenue is now up 28% -- to $1.8 billion for the first three months of this year -- versus the same period in 2022.

Still, the business is lower compared to 2019, during the pre-pandemic period. Revenue for 2023 so far is down 29% from four years ago, when it totaled $2.4 billion, according to IMdb Box Office Mojo.

In more positive news, theatrical marketers have been more efficient with their national TV spending in 2023 -- with 13% less ad spend than the year before, according to estimates from iSpot.tv.

For the first three months of 2023, national TV advertising for theatrical movies came in at $339.6 million, with 81,249 airings resulting in 23.7 billion targeted impressions. A year ago, movie ad spend was $391.1 million for 48,032 airings, resulting in 18.2 billion impressions.

The biggest individual studios spenders for the first three months of 2023 included Universal Pictures at $88.9 million (5.0 billion impressions; 8,340.5 equivalized 30-second airings), followed by Warner Bros. at $51.6 million (6.7 billion impressions; 18,519 airings); Paramount Pictures, $37.9 million (5.2 billion impressions, 8,364 airings); Walt Disney’s Marvel, $33.2 million (2.7 billion impressions, 6,547 airings); and Amazon Studios, $23.5 million (2.3 billion impressions, 1,561 airings)