Foul-mouthed superheroes and family-friendly fare propped up the domestic box office during the final months of 2024.
Full-year ticket sales were down just 3.4% from 2023, reaching $8.74 billion, a far cry from the nearly 27% shortage seen at the midway point of 2024.
The combination of Disney and Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine,” Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” Disney Animation’s “Moana 2” and Universal’s “Wicked,” all of which were released after June, buoyed ticket sales and turned a billion-dollar deficit into just $300 million, according to data from Comscore.
“While 2024 was one of the most challenging ever for theatres, the massive comeback that began in June due to the residual impact of the strikes and resultant production delays that threw the release slate into disarray in the early part of the year is nothing short of remarkable,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Box-office analysts had predicted the 2024 box office would lag significantly behind the $9 billion tallied in 2023. After all, the production calendar was disrupted by dual Hollywood labor strikes the year prior, postponing major blockbuster releases into the second half of 2024. Some were even delayed until 2025 and 2026.
“Expectations entering the year were saddled with the weight of release delays caused by industry strikes, on top of the ongoing adjustment to modern consumer habits that have taken hold in a world of shorter theatrical windows and increased demand for state-of-the-art experiences inside cinemas themselves,” said Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder of Box Office Theory.
The first-half ticket sales slump was a disappointment after the box office had seen steady annual growth in the wake of the pandemic. However, industry analysts foresee a rebound in 2025 and the potential to break the $10 billion mark in 2026.
The next two years are stacked with blockbuster franchises and films tied to popular, existing intellectual property. And while there has been some worry that the industry had become too inundated with licensed material, particularly in the superhero genre, 2024 has proven that audiences will still come out in droves for these films.
In fact, all of the top 10 highest-grossing films of 2024 were from major film franchises or tied to popular IP. And that’s a good sign, considering 2025 and 2026 are set to be packed with big titles.
“The year will see a resumption of a franchise-heavy-driven lineup,” wrote Eric Handler, managing director at Roth MKM, in a recent research note. “Vying for the highest-grossing movies of the year should be ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash,’ ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ and ‘Wicked: For Good,’ all of which should be able to surpass $400 [million].”
Disney, in particular, benefited from franchise films in 2024. The company is responsible for three of the four top-grossing films of the year — Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” and Disney Animation’s “Moana 2.”
“Inside Out 2” jump-started the box office, taking in more than $650 million domestically and becoming the first film since Warner Bros.′ “Barbie” to top $1 billion at the global box office.
Joy and Anxiety in a scene from ‘Inside Out 2.’ Disney
This was an import win for Disney’s Pixar animation hub. A once prolifically successful studio, Pixar has suffered at the box office in the wake of the pandemic. Much of its difficulties have come, in part, because Disney opted to debut a handful of animated features directly on streaming service Disney+ during theatrical closures and even once cinemas had reopened.
As a result, prior to “Inside Out 2,” no Disney animated feature from Pixar or its Walt Disney Animation studio had generated more than $480 million at the global box office since 2019. “Inside Out 2″ ultimately became the highest-grossing film of 2024.
The second-highest was Disney’s first-ever R-rated Marvel feature. “Deadpool & Wolverine” hit theaters in July and quickly earned the record for the highest debut of an R-rated film ever. It went on to top $1 billion at the global box office, the only R-rated film other than Warner Bros.′ “Joker” to do so, and also became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” brought a much-needed boost to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has struggled with consistency at the box office in the wake of the record-shattering “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019.
Handler said the superhero genre is seeking “a bit of redemption,” noting that Marvel has three major releases in 2025: “Captain America: Brave New World,” “Thunderbolts*” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”
Warner Bros. will also debut its first film under James Gunn and Peter Safran, its new heads of the DC Studio. All eyes will be on “Superman: Legacy,” especially after the woeful box office of “Joker: Folie a Deux.”
Disney also had “Moana 2,” the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year. It arrived at Thanksgiving, shattering the record for the highest-opening film during that five-day holiday period with $221 million in domestic ticket sales. It went on to snag $404 million domestically and over $900 million globally.
Together, these films alongside other theatrical releases helped Disney reach more than $2.2 billion at the domestic box office last year, accounting for about 25% of the industry’s total haul.
Universal, fueled by “Wicked,” “Despicable Me 4,” “Twisters” and “Kung Fu Panda 4″ represented 21.6% of the total market share with $1.8 billion in box-office receipts for the year. “Wicked” was the third-highest-grossing film of 2024, collecting $432 million domestically and breaking the curse of movie musicals at the box office. It also became the highest debut of a Broadway adaptation in cinematic history.
Warner Bros. tallied $1.19 billion, or 13.7% market share. Sony snared $1 billion, or 11.5%, and Paramount rounded out the top five with $880 million, or 10%.
“The late year ’24 moviegoing rally has set up a solid 2025 for movie theatres,” Dergarabedian said. ”[G]iven the more stable calendar with a more orderly cadence, frequency and importantly a greater number of wide release films … the resultant momentum will virtually guarantee even bigger results for theatrical exhibition this year.”
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal is the distributor of “Wicked,” “Despicable Me 4,” “Twisters” and “Kung Fu Panda 4,” and the owner of Fandango.