Looking back at the numbers, 2018 was a huge year for movies in terms of earnings. Globally, the box office managed to earn over $41 billion this past year, with much of that coming from the Chinese market. Even some of the films that weren’t as successful in the US made more money in China, and this trend is helping to shift the focus of many filmmakers and producers. Many are projecting that by 2022 China will be the largest film market in the world.
Hollywood took notice when certain films like ‘Rampage,’ which only made $100 million in the US, took in $156 million in China, or ‘Ready Player One,’ which earned $218 million in China and $137 million in the US. In the US, people spent more than $11.9 billion on movies, a number that exceeds previous years of 2017 and 2016 by 7% and 4.5% respectively. 2018 saw many big budget franchise films draw big crowds, but some of those massive productions did turn out to be flops this past year as well.
Movie Theater companies like AMC, which have seen declines in patronage over the last decade as home theaters have become more popular, actually managed to bring some of their customers back to the theater by offering memberships with benefits and creating a better experience. Many in the film industry believe this trend will continue in 2019, with more of the same big budget franchise films from Marvel, ‘Star Wars,’ and others set to release titles throughout the year.
