It’s no surprise that one of the industries most heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic was film. With people not going to the theaters, film distribution and business shifted towards online alternatives, including streaming services and online marketplaces where you can rent new releases.
2022 offered the first true summer box office experience in three years, as 2020 had none at all, and last year was much more of a testing ground, with many films sharing their theatrical release with a streaming service or online rental. With this expectation, all eyes were on this summer’s biggest films to see just how well theaters would succeed following the industry’s massive shifts. Through critical and commercial success alike, a number of releases showed that theaters were not going away anytime soon.
The biggest success story of them all is surely “Top Gun: Maverick.” Despite opening in late May against a massive amount of competition, the film was able to stay in the top 10 highest-grossing films of the entire summer. At one point, the film retook the number one spot over a month after its release, a feat that is nowadays unheard of in the film industry. “Top Gun: Maverick”’s run has resulted in a worldwide gross of over $1.4 billion, making it not only the highest-grossing film of 2022 but the 12th highest-grossing film of all time as of this writing.
“Top Gun: Maverick” was far from the only massive box office success to come out of the summer season. A much more concentrated burst of success took place in the form of the “Gentleminions” trend. Thousands of young TikTok users went in droves to watch “Minions: The Rise of Gru” during its opening weekend dressed in formal attire. While it didn’t last very long, like most internet trends, it still made a notable impact in the success of the sequel’s first weekend in theaters by bringing in $108 million in ticket sales domestically.
A number of smaller titles were also able to find impressive engagement, including “Elvis,” “The Black Phone” and “Where the Crawdads Sing.” Films like these demonstrated that there was a consistent interest from audiences going to see films of varying budget levels, and that the theatrical experience can help drive a film’s success beyond its opening weekend numbers.
While there were definitely some disappointments this summer, such as the lower turnout for “Lightyear” and the steep drop-off of “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the box office of this summer have shown overall that theaters have been able to come out the other end of the pandemic.
With enough continued interest and success, despite the newer offerings from streaming services and digital storefronts, theaters will continue to be at the forefront of film distribution.
Nothing like going out to a movie, even a bad one.