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Hollywood blockbusters have been busting a lot of blocks this summer. So does that mean movie theaters have bounced back from the pandemic? Well, we asked NPR film critic Bob Mondello.
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: With "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" for superhero fans...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY")
TOM HOLLAND: (As Spider-Man) You sure you want to do this, Scorpion?
MONDELLO: ..."Michael" for the music crowd...
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BILLIE JEAN")
MICHAEL JACKSON: (Singing) Billie Jean is not my lover.
MONDELLO: ..."The Odyssey" for folks who like epics, "The Devil Wears Prada 2" for fashionistas, "Toy Story 5" for kids...
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TOY STORY 5")
TIM ALLEN: (As Buzz Lightyear) We're going to need backup.
MONDELLO: ...Hollywood seemed to have something for everyone this summer, even a couple of unexpected thrillers from YouTube creators.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "OBSESSION")
INDE NAVARRETTE: (As Nikki Freeman, shouting) Why don't you love me?
MONDELLO: The low-budget horror flicks "Backrooms" and "Obsession" together added almost half a billion dollars to the North American box office pot, all of which has theater owners cheering and Hollywood trade papers buzzing about what's shaping up to be a $4.5 billion summer, easily topping the Barbenheimer summer of 2023.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "BARBIE")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As Ken) Hi, Barbie.
MARGOT ROBBIE: (As Barbie) Hi, Ken.
MONDELLO: This is great news for a film industry that seemed to lose its way when the pandemic accelerated the growth of streaming services six years ago. For a few months in 2020, theaters shut down entirely, and movie patrons, having been trained to find entertainment options at home...
(SOUNDBITE OF NETFLIX LAUNCHING)
MONDELLO: ...Had to be wooed back to cinemas by the likes of Vin Diesel touting his latest "Fast & Furious" epic.
(SOUNDBITE OF AD)
VIN DIESEL: The movies - there's nothing like that moment when the lights go down...
(SOUNDBITE OF PROJECTOR WHIRRING)
VIN DIESEL: ...The projector ignites...
(SOUNDBITE OF ENGINE REVVING)
VIN DIESEL: ...And we believe.
MONDELLO: It took a while, but in dollar terms, the industry has now recovered. Five of this year's films have each earned more than a billion dollars worldwide, more than in any year since the start of the pandemic, and that's before the coming Christmas bonanza that fans are calling Dunesday when rival Blockbusters "Dune: Part Three" and "Avengers: Doomsday" both open on December 18. They are expected to cap the best year American theaters will have had since $10 billion years were commonplace before 2019.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "AVENGERS: ENDGAME")
CHRIS EVANS: (As Captain America) Avengers, assemble.
MONDELLO: But there are differences this year. Cineplexes are crowded partly because the pandemic left the industry with fewer of them. According to the research firm Omdia, there were about 44,000 movie screens in North America before the pandemic. By the end of last year, more than 7,000 of those screens had permanently closed. And those recovering box office numbers mask another issue - dollars are up, but attendance, though it's climbing back, is still down.
S&P Global, which tracks corporate data, reports that through mid-August of this year, cinemas sold fewer tickets - a quarter of a billion fewer - than in the year before the pandemic, a drop that would be catastrophic if prices hadn't risen. Seven years ago, the average movie ticket cost a little over $9. Today, audience fondness for premium formats like IMAX has pushed the average adult ticket price above $13, so fewer patrons but bigger event films like "The Odyssey."
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE ODYSSEY")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, shouting) Let's go.
MONDELLO: And there's one other difference. In 2019, Hollywood had about 400 movies in release during the summer. This year, it will barely get to 300. So, on average, each individual film is doing better, but there aren't as many choices for folks who've had a good time and want to come back.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) Now in MinionVision.
MONDELLO: The audiences that multiplex theaters were designed to capture. So what Hollywood is looking at as it ends its most successful summer in years is more dollars but fewer screens, fewer patrons and fewer movies. Not really what "The Devil Wears Prada" crowd might call a great look.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2")
MERYL STREEP: (As Miranda Priestly) I hope that's not what you're wearing to the dinner. That's all.
MONDELLO: The film industry will need to grapple with whether its current business model is sustainable. But this summer, it has led to a slew of box office records, including when "Spider-Man" first joined "The Odyssey" in theaters, the highest take for a single weekend in Hollywood history.
I'm Bob Mondello.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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