Box office revenue of Sony in the U.S. & Canada 2000-2022

In 2022, Sony generated a box office revenue of about 844 million U.S. dollars in the United States and Canada, down from 1.059 billion dollars a year earlier – an annual decline of about 20 percent. The 2022 figure corresponds to less than 80 percent of the 1.35 billion-dollar revenue recorded in 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak.

A promising purchase

Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. used to be known as Columbia Pictures until its acquisition by the Tokyo-based holding in the late 1980s. The studio became one of the most prominent divisions of the Sony Group Corporation. And its importance for the so-called North American movie market has trended up. Sony's box office market share in the U.S. and Canada had consistently increased between 2017 and 2021, reaching 23 percent in the latter year.

Sony Pictures' nemesis

The studio's main rival – both in North America and worldwide – is Disney. Mickey Mouse's corporation entered the 21st century as an ever-growing media and entertainment empire. The competition is likely to remain tight. In 2021, Disney's box office market share in the U.S. and Canada yet again surpassed Sony's by accounting for over one-fourth of the box office revenue. It is a small cinema world, after all.