It may have seemed like domestic box office numbers for 2025 were better than 2024’s – I initially thought so too. However, that impression was only created by a large number of additional films being released. The actual numbers paint a less optimistic picture for both cinemas and moviegoers.
Recent data from The Hollywood Reporter shows a significant change happening in movie theaters. Although overall box office revenue in 2025 was slightly higher than in 2024, individual movies are making less money. This continues a trend of fewer people going to the movies, a problem hidden by the fact that ticket prices have been going up.
So, I was reading The Hollywood Reporter the other day, and they pointed out something interesting. Last year, 2025, we had 112 movies released nationwide in theaters – that’s up from 94 the year before! Total box office numbers were around $8.9 billion, a little bump from the $8.7 billion in 2024. Seems good, right? But when you consider they released a lot more movies, the overall picture isn’t quite as rosy. Basically, each movie earned less when you break it down.
In 2025, movies released widely in the US earned an average of about $79.5 million each, based on total box office revenue of $8.9 billion from 112 releases. While total revenue was close to the $8.7 billion earned from 94 wide releases in 2024 (which averaged $92.5 million per film), the average movie actually earned about 14% less in 2025 compared to the previous year.
Domestic Box Office and Average Gross Per Wide Release (2016–2025)
| Year | Domestic Box Office (USD) | Wide Releases (Approx.) | Avg. Gross per Wide Release |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | $11.4B | ~105 | ~$108.6M |
| 2017 | $11.1B | ~109 | ~$101.8M |
| 2018 | $11.9B | ~112 | ~$106.3M |
| 2019 | $11.4B | ~113 | ~$100.9M |
| 2020 | $2.1B | ~65 | ~$32.3M |
| 2021 | $4.5B | ~85 | ~$52.9M |
| 2022 | $7.4B | ~98 | ~$75.5M |
| 2023 | $9.0B | ~107 | ~$84.1M |
| 2024 | $8.7B | 94 | ~$92.5M |
| 2025 | $8.9B | 112 | ~$79.5M |
Please keep in mind that release numbers before 2024 are estimates from industry sources, based on general tracking and trade news. We’re more interested in the overall trend than in exact numbers for any specific year.
Ticket Prices vs. Attendance
The data shows a concerning trend: while overall movie ticket sales have somewhat recovered since the pandemic, the average revenue earned per movie release hasn’t. In fact, it peaked in the late 2010s and hasn’t improved. This is particularly striking because movie tickets now cost much more than they did in 2016.
Movie ticket prices have been going up consistently because of inflation and the growing popularity of premium formats like IMAX and Dolby Cinema. This means that increases in overall box office revenue are now more likely due to higher prices, not more people going to the movies. Essentially, fewer tickets are being sold, but each one costs more. With prices roughly 40% higher than they were before the pandemic, the drop in actual attendance could be quite significant.
The difference in ticket prices means that even if domestic box office sales reach $9 billion in 2025, it won’t mean as many people are going to the movies as it would have ten years ago. These days, the biggest problem for theaters isn’t low revenue, it’s fewer people buying tickets.
The data also shows how the number of movie releases affects box office performance. In 2016, when fewer films were released at the same time, domestic box office revenue reached a high of $11.4 billion. However, in 2025, even though more movies are being widely released, they’re attracting a significantly smaller audience.
This leads to films competing with each other, not just failing due to their own merits. There are now so many new movies released at once that they’re all vying for the attention of a smaller and smaller group of regular moviegoers. Going to the theater isn’t a habit anymore; people mostly go for big, must-see franchise films or special events.
The movie theater business in the US is facing a serious crisis and is definitely shrinking. What’s particularly concerning is that this is happening before the expected surge of content created by artificial intelligence in the next few years. This year could be the last relatively ‘normal’ year for going to the movies. Even now, revenue numbers are only being kept up by increasing ticket prices and releasing more movies widely. However, the truth is that fewer people are going to the movies, and each movie is earning significantly less money than it did in 2016.
As a movie fan, it’s a little worrying to see that while the box office looks big overall, fewer people are actually going to the movies. If attendance doesn’t pick up soon, studios releasing tons of new films will just split the audience even thinner. It feels like only the biggest, must-see blockbusters will really do well, and everything in between will struggle – the kind of mid-budget movies I really enjoy are starting to disappear!
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2026-01-05 01:58