Movie releases in the U.S. & Canada 2000-2021

In 2021, a total of 403 movies were released in the United States and Canada, up from 334 in the previous year – an annual increase of over 20 percent. Still, the 2021 figure amounts to only 51 percent of the 792 titles released in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Will moviegoers return?

The box office revenue in the U.S. and Canada more than doubled between 2020 and 2021, when it reached almost 4.5 billion U.S. dollars. The 2021 result still fell way behind the 11.3-billion-dollar annual revenue recorded just before the pandemic. But there are ways to attract newcomers to the moviegoing experience. During a mid-2021 survey conducted among members of the Generation Z – aged between 13 and 24 years – more than one-third of respondents mentioned variety as a leading motivation to go to the movies. About the same share of interviewees included premium screen formats and inexpensive tickets on certain days or times among their main incentives.

Cinema circuits

As the industry tries to reinvent itself for a post-pandemic scenario, the top movie theater chains in North America slowly bounce back. Their financial results improved since the coronavirus outbreak, but when or if they will see figures similar to those recorded before 2020 remains an open question. The leading circuit, AMC Theatres, reported a revenue of more than 2.5 billion dollars in 2021, over twice as much as in the previous year.