Excessive Content Led to Low Box Officer Numbers in 2024
By Movieguide® Contributor
Despite many high-performing movies, 2024’s box office numbers fell over 3%, thanks to aftereffects from the SAG and WGA strikes, as well as an abundance of excessive movies.
“The 2024 box office was healthy for six months, and unhealthy for the other half. During the summer and year-end, big franchise series worked and records were broken,” David A. Gross, head of movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, told Variety. “But the first four-and-a-half months of the year and the autumn were weak. Dead periods in 2024 left some deep bruises.”
Overall, 2024’s domestic ticket sales came out at $8.7 billion — down more than 3.3.% from last year and a whopping 23.5% from 2019, which many experts consider the last “normal” year at the box office.
Many pointed to “increased costs of labor due to last year’s strikes, a contention union leaders have rejected,” the L.A. Times reported, adding, “An undisputed factor has been California’s inability — or unwillingness — to compete with tax incentives offered by other states and countries.”
Others blamed the content of the movies themselves. Movies like JOKER: FOLIE Á DEUX and MEGALOPOLIS were massive flops at the box office, largely due to their excessive content.
READ MORE: JOKER: FOLIE Á DEUX CONTINUES ITS HISTORIC BOX OFFICE BOMB
“Family films with a ‘PG’ rating grossed $2.9 billion domestically,” Forbes reported. “As a result, ‘PG’ films grossed nearly $3 billion, accounting for about one-third of all ticket sales.”
If studios had released more moral content, it’s clear the box office numbers would be way higher for 2024.
Movieguide®’s annual Report to the Entertainment Industry, coming out next month, will break down 2024’s box office statistics, showing the math behind last year’s box office bombs.
READ MORE: WHERE IS THE BOX OFFICE HEADED IN 2025?
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