In a troubled box office, premium still sells

livemint.com:

If it seemed to you like no one was going to the movies during the second quarter, you wouldn’t have been far off. You also probably haven’t stepped into an IMAX lately. The second quarter was a dismal one for the U.S.

box office. Sales of $1.95 billion were down 27% from the same period last year. Excluding 2020, when the pandemic closed theaters across the globe, that is the biggest drop for that period since 1976, according to data from Box Office Mojo.

And that was with “Inside Out 2," which accounted for nearly a fourth of the quarter’s total domestic box office haul despite releasing in the final two weeks of the period. The blockbuster from Disney’s Pixar studio has since gone on to become the year’s best performing film to date, with a global box office nearing $1.5 billion. Disney has another shot at theatrical glory with the just-released “Deadpool & Wolverine." It grossed $205 million domestically on its opening weekend—a record debut for an R-rated movie and 33% above what “Inside Out 2" managed on its opening.

That was preceded by a strong launch for “Twisters" from Comcast’s Universal, which took in more than $81 million for its opening weekend—well above the $50 million range projected by various box-office tracking services. Still, a few big hits won’t fully close the shortfall that studios and theaters are expected to see this year because of shifts in the release slate resulting from last year’s Hollywood strikes and some high-profile misfires. This year’s domestic box office is tracking about 19% below the same point last year, according to Box Office Mojo.