In the past two years the number of attractive global movies ready to be released in the final quarter was lower than needed to sustain the stages of recovery achieved earlier in both years. That is different this year. Four commercial wide releases delivered in November, making it an awaited and needed break-out month. The awesome foursome of WICKED, MOANA 2, GLADIATOR II and RED ONE revived the global box office in November, generating a combined $1.09 billion in the month!
Overall, Global box office generated $2.5 billion in November. That is +38% above the same month last year and clearly the highest grossing November since 2019! Compared to the average of the last three pre-pandemic years (2017-2019) the gap was just -13%. The sub-regions of Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and Latin America were even able to get back to pre-pandemic levels.
Consequently, the global 2024 gap to last year has narrowed within the past month to -9% from -12% at the end of October. The gap to the three-year average stayed at -22% for the running year. After 11 months, the total global box office is estimated to have reached $27.3 billion in 2024. In November the global running year overtook the 2022 full-year result of $25.9 billion (historical exchange rates).
On this month’s Global Box Office Tracker (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 Domestic market was a significant driver of the relieving November performance. The two highest global grossers were Domestic skewing. WICKED earned 74% and MOANA 2 62% of their monthly worldwide total in the Domestic market. Both titles combined contributed nearly half (47%) of the November Domestic total. The success in November didn’t only happen at the top, it was lifted by a phalanx of titles on different levels. Ten movies grossed more than $20 million in the month, which is the best since December last year (13). Five titles grossed more than $50 million, which is the best since August this year (5). Three titles even cracked $100 million, the best since July this year (4) and second best since July last year (5)!
The diverse mix of strong attractive movies and the prosperous Thanksgiving window at the end of the month lifted the Domestic box office for November to a $920 million total. The third best month of the past 12, just behind July ($1.2bn) and June ($978m). It’s further the 8th highest grossing month of the decade, the only one in that top group, which is not June or July beside of December 2021 ($921m). It’s +61% up on the same month last year and +40% on November 2022. The gap against the three-year average is -8%. This fabulous performance narrowed the gaps for the running year compared to the prior month end, reducing it from -11% to -6% against last year and from -26% to -24% against the three-year average.
The International box office (excluding China) was down only -7% on the pre-pandemic average in November. That is the second lowest gap in the past 12 months, just behind June, which was on the level of the benchmark. This narrowed the gap for the running year from -20% to -19% compared to the end of October. The total box office of $1.36 billion in November ranks #5 in the past 12 months. This increases the international cume for 2024 after 11 months to $13.9 billion, just -5% behind the past year at the same time.
China like the majority of the Asia Pacific region had another soft month. The monthly total of $255 million was down -44% against the three-year pre-pandemic average. That ranks the metrics at #11 and #10 in the past 12 months. The best thing that can be stated is that this November was up +11% on the same month last year and more than three times the disastrous November of 2022 (+225%). This increases the gap for the running year against the three-year average to -25%, which is now below the one for Domestic (-24%) for the first time in 2024.
No title was able to cross $50 million within the month. Only local comedy-drama HER STORY came near with $47 million. At #2 VENOM: THE LAST DANCE added $39 million to reach a $95 million cume. This makes it the third highest grossing US movie this year after GODZILLA X KONG ($133m) and ALIEN: ROMULUS ($109m).
November was a great proof of the strength of the theatrical business coming off two weaker months. The box office got near to pre-pandemic levels fuelled by multiple, diverse global tentpoles and many local successes.
Strong holdover business from the hits of November will carry the success into the final month of the year. A continuing dense and colourful slate should pick up the trend with KRAVEN THE HUNTER, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM, MUFASA: THE LION KING and SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 as major wide-releasing tentpoles.
