Box office revenue in the U.S. and Canada 1980-2021

In 2021, total earnings at the box office across the United States and Canada amounted to around 4.48 billion U.S. dollars, up from 2.1 billion dollars in the previous year. Still, the 2021 figure corresponded to less than 40 percent of 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 September 2021, 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 gained popularity over adventure for the first time since 2018.

Diversity attracts moviegoers

Over one-third of Gen Zers surveyed in the U.S. in July 2021 mentioned the variety of 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.