Global box office for July came closest to matching pre-pandemic averages so far in 2024. The month delivered a 2024-best Global gross of $3.57 billion according to Gower Street’s latest Global Box Office Tracker (GBOT). That put the month just -6% behind the July average for the last three pre-pandemic years (2017-2019). It is also the best single-month Global result since August 2023.
Animated titles, Marvel Jesus, and a couple of titles scoring big in the Domestic and Chinese markets were largely to thank. The biggest global hit of July was DESPICABLE ME 4 (approx. $714m in July), quickly followed by end-of-month Marvel mega-hit DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE (approx. $617m in the final week of the month). June holdover INSIDE OUT 2 followed added approximately $518 million in July. Chinese comedy drama SUCCESSOR was the 4th biggest title of the month, taking $332 million at home. TWISTERS rounded out the top 5 with a global tally of approximately of $244 million in July, of which the Domestic market accounted for roughly 70%.
While not reaching the levels of these blockbuster titles there were also key smaller triumphs such as Neon/Black Bear’s psychological horror LONGLEGS which delivered approximately $83 million in July, including $62 million during its first 20 days in the Domestic market, already making it Neon’s biggest ever release (overtaking 2019’s Parasite, $53.4m).
The July 2024 box office was up on the same month in 2022 (+13% at current exchange rates) when titles including MINIONS: THE RISE OF GRU and THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER. The overall global uptick compared to 2022 was in part due to China where a weak July result in 2022 meant this year’s significantly stronger result (+53% compared to 2022) boosted the global tally too. Domestic business was up a good but slimer +5% over 2022, with International (exc. China) a similar +6%.
This year’s success was still no match for July 2023 globally, coming in -20% behind the month that brought the simultaneous releases of BARBIE and OPPENHEIMER and remains, to date, the single-highest-grossing month of the post-pandemic era ($4.54bn at historic exchange rates). Hitting that level was always going to be a tall order given that, thanks to a very strong Chinese result as well, it was the first post-pandemic month to see Domestic, Chinese and International (exc. China) markets all surpass pre-pandemic averages in the same month. Again China skews the overall result but this time negatively. July 2024 was -38% down against the same month in 2023 in China, while the Domestic market’s drop was a far less drastic -13% and International (exc. China) a similar -14% (at current exchange rates).
Overall the Domestic market is estimated to have grossed $1.19 billion in July 2024; the International market (exc. China) $1.65 billion; and China $0.74 billion. This is still the second best month of 2024 in China, after the Chinese New Year-fuelled February, but it easily ranks as the best month of the year to date in both the Domestic and International markets. It is also the first month of this year to surpass $1 billion at the Domestic box office.
On this month’s GBOT (above), the stacked bar graph on the left shows total box office levels split out by the three key global markets: Domestic, China and International (excluding China). The pie chart indicates the current deficit compared to the average of the three pre-pandemic years (2017-2019) and where those losses are currently coming from. The bar graph on the bottom right displays the percentage drops globally.
The July results brought the Global tally for the first seven months to just over $18 billion. This is still a -22% deficit against the 2017-2019 average but the gap has narrowed from -25% at the end of June. The Domestic market shows a notably heavier deficit compared to the pre-pandemic average (-31% at $4.85bn) than either International (exc. China) (-19% at $9.15bn) or China (-16% at $4.04bn).
Among the International sub-regions Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) enjoyed the strongest July both in terms of overall box office ($0.85bn) and comparison to pre-pandemic averages (-1% at current exchange rates). Several major markets enjoyed July results that were above the pre-pandemic levels, including Italy (+67%), France (+15%), Spain (+6%), Germany (+3%) and Netherlands (+1%).
Major tent-poles used to avoid the summer months in Italy but this year June holdover INSIDE OUT 2 brought in nearly a third of its current local box office in July to lead business, while a July 24 release for DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE came in at #2 for the month. INSIDE OUT 2 also led in Spain, followed by global July hits DESPICABLE ME 4 and DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE and local sequel FATHER THERE IS ONLY ONE 4. DESPICABLE ME 4 topped both German and Dutch business. However in France it was local late June release THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO that topped business with May’s smash hit A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA also adding a little something extra to make the top 5, alongside the big Hollywood trio.
Overall EMEA box office stands at an estimated $4.88 billion through July, -18% against the pre-pandemic average and -6% behind July 2023.
Asia Pacific (exc. China) delivered a $0.455 billion July, -26% behind the three-year average and even -21% behind 2023. Most markets showed a significant deficit to the 2017-2019 July average, with Australia by far the best performer in the region at -9%. Overall Asia Pacific (exc. China) box office stands at an estimated $2.83 billion through July, -24% against the pre-pandemic average and -10% behind July 2023.
Latin America grossed $0.34 billion in July, a slight (+0.6%) increase on 2023 and +4% better than the three-year pre-pandemic average. Mexico was up +3% against the 2017-2019 average with DESPICABLE ME 4 topping the charts, while Brazil enjoyed a massive +29% gain with INSIDE OUT 2 the clear champion. Overall Latin America box office stands at an estimated $1.44 billion through July, -15% against the pre-pandemic average and -12% behind July 2023.
Overall numbers for July may not have been able to quite compete with the same month in 2023 but with DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE and both Pixar and Illumination animated hits continue to pull in big audiences into August, as school holidays play out in many markets, August already looks to be in for a good run. This is before a wealth of August titles including week-1 thriller TRAP, Lady Deadpool (Blake Lively) in IT ENDS WITH US, video game adaptation BORDERLANDS, horror reboot ALIEN: ROMULUS, comic-book remake THE CROW and others take to the screens with something for all audiences.
