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Monday 4 January 2021 people & Arts
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Calamity? Anomaly? 2020 was a box office year like no other

By LINDSEY BAHR stream of new releases, the family sequel " The Croods: ing private theater rentals, Some innovations have
AP Film Writer blockbuster tentpoles have A New Age," which was re- but attendance through- been well-received, like
When the sun sets on the been few and far between. leased at Thanksgiving and out the fall and winter re- Universal's landmark agree-
2020 film box office, it'll be ment with various exhibitors
difficult to look at the num- to shorten the theatrical
bers as anything but disas- window from 90 days to
trous. as little as 17 days in some
After five consecutive cases.
years of North American Others, like Warner Bros.'
revenues exceeding $11 decision to release all of its
billion, this year they're ex- 2021 films on HBO Max and
pected to cap out at an al- in theaters simultaneously,
most 40-year low of around have not.
$2.3 billion. That'll be down It's no secret that streaming
80% from last year accord- services, whether subscrip-
ing to data firm Comscore. tion or on demand, filled
Globally, where markets a huge gap for film fans
have been able to recover looking for new content.
more fully, ticket sales will While at-home options will
likely end up somewhere continue to compete with
between $11 and $12 bil- theaters for consumer eyes
lion. Last year, that total hit and dollars, few believe
$42.5 billion. But of course, that they are a death-knell
2020 is a year with a big as- for theaters. By and large,
terisk. studios are not looking to
"It's a year like no other," abandon the theatrical
said Jim Orr, president of model, even if some priori-
domestic theatrical distri- ties have shifted to stream-
bution for Universal Pictures. ing.
"We've never seen this little "I do think there's a bright
business in this industry." This image released by Sony Pictures shows Martin Lawrence, right, and Will Smith in a scene from light at the end of the tun-
Outside of January and "Bad Boys for Life." nel," Orr said. "As vaccina-
February, it's impossible to Associated Press tions continue to roll out, I
judge the year's box office am 100% convinced that
by pre-pandemic stan- Some went to streaming has earned $30.8 million so mained limited. people will come running
dards. Box office, in aggre- services, others became far to put it in 10th place. "People go to movie the- back into theaters when it's
gate, is fairly predictable premium digital rentals, but And at least 15 films in the aters to escape. If you're possible in their area. The
in a normal year. But when most simply retreated into top 100 were retro releases, going to a movie theater model is not going away."
the theaters shut down 2021 and beyond. including "Hocus Pocus," where you have to wear Disney CEO Bob Chapek
March 20, that "all went out Perhaps there is no more "The Empire Strikes Back," a mask and you have to noted at the company's re-
the window," said Paul Der- telling fact than that 2020 and "The Nightmare Before sit apart and you have to cent investor day that they
garabedian, a senior me- was the first time in over a Christmas." be hyper conscious of your made $13 billion at the box
dia analyst with Comscore. decade without a Marvel "The silver lining for movie surroundings, that is not office in 2019.
"The unpredictability be- movie. theaters is even though how the theatrical experi- "That's not something to
came the constant." The Walt Disney Co.'s su- people had unlimited op- ence is supposed to work," sneeze at," Chapek said.
Most North American the- perhero factory has for tions at home, people still said John Sloss, principal at This past weekend, "Won-
aters weren't open for six the past two years topped sought out the movie the- the media advisory firm Ci- der Woman 1984," which
months straight through the the year-end charts with " ater," Dergarabedian said. netic. was available to stream on
summer season, which typi- Avengers: Endgame " and "People have a desire to "To judge this year at all HBO Max for free, also col-
cally accounts for around "Black Panther," and has go outside the home and in terms of theater atten- lected $16.7 million from
40% of the year's profits. regularly had two or more be entertained. That de- dance, I think is doing a 2,100 North American the-
For the past two years, the films in the top 10. sire hasn't changed but the disservice overall to what's aters.
summer movie season has Unsurprisingly, the 2020 top ability to do that was pro- really going on." That number would have
netted over $4.3 billion. This 10 is a little chaotic and foundly limited." Moviegoing in 2020 is the been a disaster before.
year it brought in $176.5 comprised mostly of films It's even changed the way story of an industry that em- For the pandemic? It's a
million, much of that from from the first two months of opening weekends, once ploys some 150,000 fighting record.q
drive-in theaters. the year. Sony's Will Smith a reliable indicator of a to stay afloat until normal-
"The drive-in became the sequel " Bad Boys for Life film's long-term prospects, cy returns, which everyone
hero of the summer," Der- " has stayed in first place are judged and it might re- expects will happen even Solution Sudoku
garabedian said. in North America since its main that way for a while. if it's not in the near future.
When indoor theaters did January release with $206.3 "The instant gratification Small movie theater own- 1/04 Difficulty Level
start to reopen in late Au- million. Globally it's in sec- that we used to be able to ers will get a bit of a lifeline 9 1 4 7 6 2 3 8 5
gust and early September, ond place to the Chinese deliver on Sunday mornings from the pandemic relief 7 8 3 5 4 1 9 2 6
it was at limited capacity film "The Eight Hundred" — after opening on a Friday? package. 2 6 5 8 3 9 4 1 7
and with limited product. the first time that the top It's probably not going to But effects on the busi- 6 9 2 3 1 8 7 5 4
Currently, about 35% of worldwide film originated happen again for quite nesses have been stagger- 2021 Conceptis Puzzles, Dist. by King Features Syndicate, Inc. 5 7 8 4 9 6 2 3 1
theaters are open in the outside of Hollywood. The some time," Orr said. ing and it may be a while 3 4 1 2 5 7 8 6 9
U.S. and some of the big- only post-shutdown films to Theaters have embraced before the full impact is 4 5 7 1 2 3 6 9 8
gest markets, including crack the top 10 are Chris- enhanced safety protocols known, although there
New York and Los Angeles, topher Nolan's " Tenet," in and experimented with dif- have been some historic 8 2 6 9 7 5 1 4 3
remain closed. Although eighth place with $57.2 ferent ways to get people developments and com- 1 3 9 6 8 4 5 7 2
there have been a steady million and the animated back into seats, includ- promises. Puzzle on Page 13