Jan 10, 2020 - Economy

Global box office hits record at $42 billion

Sara Fischer

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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Global box office hits record at $42 billion

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