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Jan 10, 2020 - Economy

Global box office hits record at $42 billion

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Box office at Regal South Beach. Photo: Jeff Greenberg/UIG via Getty Images.

The global box office hit an all-time high of more than $42 billion, according to numbers released Friday by Comscore.

Why it matters: That success can be attributed to monster growth in movie-going overseas. The international box office was up 4% in revenue last year, while the North America box office was down 4% from its record high of $11.88 billion in 2018.

By the numbers: The international box office brought in $31.1 billion, a new record, while the North American Box Office hit $11.4 billion, its second-highest year after 2018.

  • This is the fifth straight year that the North American box office has surpassed $11 billion, suggesting that the theater business in America, while not growing substantially, has been relatively stable despite the rise of streaming video.

Details: Asia and Europe led box office growth last year, with countries like China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, Russia, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Italy and others posting gains.

  • Movies that helped push the global box office to new heights mostly came from Disney, including Marvel's “Avengers: Endgame,” “The Lion King,” “Frozen 2,” and “Captain Marvel.”

What's next: With fewer high-end sequels planned for 2020 — like Star Wars — experts predict that it's unlikely that the box office will see as much success this year.

Yes, but: Comscore predicts that a strong lineup of films released in time for this year's awards season, like “1917” and “Uncut Gems” are creating enthusiasm for movie-going to start off the year.

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