Box office revenue in the U.S. and Canada 1980-2023

In 2023, total earnings at the box office across the United States and Canada amounted to around 8.91 billion U.S. dollars, up from 7.37 billion dollars in the previous year. Still, the 2023 figure was still under the revenue recorded in 2019.

Light, camera, action – literally

The initial recovery in the box office was followed by a return in market concentration. As of February 2023, the "Big Five" major film studios – Disney, Paramount, Sony/Columbia, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. – collectively held a market share of over 80 percent in the U.S. and Canada. Meanwhile, the action genre remained the most popular movie genre of the year.

Diversity attracts moviegoers

Over 60 percent of Gen Zers surveyed in the U.S. in May 2022 mentioned the movie offerings as the main reason to watch motion pictures in theaters. This suggests that new generations of moviegoers may be losing interest in some of the themes abundant in Hollywood productions. Between April 2018 and November 2021, the share of internet users in the U.S. who said they enjoyed superhero movies but were getting tired of so many of them went from 17 percent to 23 percent.