U.S. Box Office Ends Turbulent 2021 With $4.45 Billion Total

Since reopening at the end of March, movie theaters have been performing at roughly 50% of pre-pandemic levels

box office Coronavirus Pandemic Causes Climate Of Anxiety And Changing Routines In America
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 06: A cyclist rides his bike by an AMC theatre during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on April 06, 2020 in San Francisco, California. The future of AMC movie theaters remains in question after shuttering all of its theaters and furloughing all 600 of its corporate staff including CEO Adam Aron. Residents in the San Francisco Bay Area are continuing to shelter in place due to the coronavirus. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

A turbulent year for the box office filled with COVID-19 variants, day-and-date release experiments and multiple surprise flops has come to a close, with industry estimates reporting a final annual domestic total of approximately $4.45 billion.

While that figure is down roughly 61% from the $11.3 billion grossed in 2019, it’s worth remembering that thousands of theaters were still closed for much of the first quarter of 2021, with only around $230 million being grossed during that three-month period compared to $2.4 billion for the first quarter of 2019. That changed with the release of Warner Bros.’ “Godzilla vs.

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