Overall, 2024 was a mixed year at the box office. Things started off terribly, as the first half of the year was full of flops, disappointments, and films that just couldn’t handle the load after the SAG and WGA strikes completely upended the release calendar in 2023. Fortunately, things turned around in the second half of the year Hit films like “Wicked,” “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Inside Out 2” have turned the tide. Despite all this, global box office revenues were significantly below those of 2023, slowing the industry’s recovery from the lockdowns in 2020. At the same time, streaming’s place as the future was more firmly cemented.
According to Gower Street Analytics (via deadline), global box office revenue was $30 billion in 2024, compared to $33.9 billion in 2023. This figure includes $8.75 billion from domestic ticket sales a decrease from 2023, when that number exceeded $9 billion. Given the strikes and the slow start to last year, this number could have been significantly worse. There’s a lot to say about this, and we’ll go into it in more detail here in a moment. But there is an eye-opening statistic that helps put it all into perspective. In fact, Netflix’s total revenue for the fiscal year ending September 2024 was $37.5 billion (or to put it another way: 25% more than total global box office revenue last year).
It’s certainly a bit of an apples-to-oranges equation, as Netflix is a subscription streaming service that offers both movies and TV shows to attract customers. However, there should be no question about which business sector is most important to the future of Hollywood.
It’s also crystal clear that Netflix is the king of the streaming wars although it is just one of the many competitors in this area. Not to mention Disney+, Hulu, Max, Paramount+ or Peacock, not to mention smaller services like Shudder. Taken together, streaming completely dwarfs the cinema market.
Box office still matters, even if streaming is the dominant force
While revenue doesn’t equate to profit, Netflix has unsurprisingly become very profitable recently, posting a profit of more than $17 billion in the fiscal year that ended September 2024. This is an increase of 31% compared to the previous year. Many theater chains are now having difficulty maintaining operations Regal’s parent company Cineworld had to file for bankruptcy in 2022 and AMC, the world’s largest theater chain, which is currently saddled with billions in debt. Last year there was also a bombastic development Sony Pictures bought the popular Alamo Drafthouse theater chain. That may help the company survive, but it also means that a major studio is now investing directly in theaters, making things more complicated.
This might explain why Netflix doesn’t care too much about releasing its films into theaters, even if Cinema owners would welcome Netflix’s films with open arms (under the right conditions). The streamer generally only releases its films in theaters to ensure they qualify for awards and/or to please certain filmmakers. He just doesn’t care about the box office.
That being said, box office remains extremely important to the future health of the film business, streaming included. We’ve seen time and time again that theatrical films perform better when streamed. This is pretty much a universal rule, even if the film in question is a box office flop. For example, Nicolas Cage’s The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent recently entered Netflix’s top 10 charts two and a half years after its theatrical release. So yes, Netflix originals like Back in Action will have their big success, but will they have the same staying power? Even currently, Netflix’s top 10 movie charts are dominated by the Despicable Me films, Hotel Transylvania 2, Trolls Band Together and The Boss Baby.
So yes, streaming is undoubtedly the future of Hollywood and until something dramatic changes, Netflix is the king of that future. But without a healthy cinema market, it will be more difficult to keep Hollywood running. Studios need that revenue and, more importantly, films need the word of mouth that a theatrical release provides them. It remains a symbiotic relationship, even if there is a clearly dominant force on one side of the equation.
