Inside This Year’s $30 Billion Box Office Freefall

At the start of 2020, box office analysts and studios anticipated a down year compared to the spectacular records set in 2018 and 2019. But nothing could have prepared Hollywood for the devastation the year would bring. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down theaters for much of the year — and forcing studios to move dozens of tentpole films to 2021 — the North American box office has grossed just $2.06 billion in 2020, a staggering 81% collapse from last year. While final global box office numbers are still to be tabulated, a drop of approximately $30 billion is expected. But the damage goes beyond the raw numbers. The entire movie theater industry has seen its future thrown into question by the pandemic. Countless theaters around the world have been forced to furlough employees with no guarantee that doors will be able to reopen when the pandemic ends. The three-month theatrical window, long defended by theater owners against the likes of Netflix, has finally been broken as cash-strapped theater chains are forced to accept a new normal. What that new normal looks like on the other end of the pandemic will depend on how quickly theaters can get to...

Read original story Inside This Year’s $30 Billion Box Office Freefall At TheWrap