Barbie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Oppenheimer were among the films that contributed to the global box office revenue of $33.9 billion, according to estimates released on Thursday by leading U.K.-based analytics firm Gower Street.
This represents a 31% increase over 2022, but is 15% lower than the average of the three years before the pandemic (2015-2019). Movie ticket sales have not yet returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, globally or domestically. According to Comscore, a leading U.S.-based firm, domestic box office revenue reached $9.05 billion in 2023, a 21% increase from 2022 and a post-pandemic record. Gower Street reports that international box office revenue has made an even stronger comeback, reaching $24.8 billion, a year-over-year increase of 35 percent.
Excluding China, foreign revenue was $17.1 billion in 2023, a 20% year over year increase, according to Gower. China exceeded expectations by delivering $7.71 billion, an 83% gain over 2022 and only 6% behind the pre-pandemic 2017-2019 average, according to Gower. China’s box office received a boost from Shining One Thing in recent days.
Looking ahead to 2024, Gower predicts that box office revenue could be 7% lower than 2023 levels due to strike-related delays and disruptions to the release calendar.
In 2022, worldwide box office revenue was $25.9 billion, compared to $21.3 billion in 2021. This is significantly less than pre-pandemic global revenue, which reached $42.3 billion in 2019.
The following two films grossed over $1 billion globally in 2023: Warner Bros.’ Barbie ($1.44 billion) and Universal/Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($1.36 billion), both of which broke numerous records. Universal’s Oppenheimer, a biographical drama, set a new record for the genre with $952 million in global revenue, placing third on the chart. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 by Disney and Marvel came in fourth place with $845.6 million, almost as much as the sequel. Universal’s Fast X rounded out the top five with $704.8 million, driven by overseas numbers.
In 2023, the Asia Pacific region accounted for 39% of global box office revenue, with China contributing the vast majority at 32%, according to Gower. North America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East each contributed 27%, while Latin America made up the remaining 8%.
