2022 box office recap: Domestic box office back to late '90s levels

The domestic box office recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continued throughout 2022 but has yet to return levels comparable to the 2015-2019 period when total gross was more than $11 billion. Total 2022 domestic box office increased 69.3% from nearly $4.33 billion in 2021 to $7.32 billion. The annual total is more akin to the totals of $7.73 billion in 1999 and $7.55 billion in 2000.

The year started out promising with spring season box office increasing 376.3% from $422.9 million in 2021 to $2.01 billion in 2022. The season's top-grossing film was "The Batman" with $367.7 million. "Spider-Man: No Way Home" grossed $334.0 million of its $804.4 million total in the spring season. Three other films passed $100 million at the box office during the spring: "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" ($146.3 million), "Uncharted" ($146.0 million) and "Sing 2" ($123.1 million).

The summer season had a strong start with "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" debuting in the first weekend of May and landing a $187.4 million opening weekend. "Top Gun: Maverick" was the top movie of the summer, grossing $691.2 million during the season. The average weekly box office gross during the summer was $189.8 million in 2022 versus $90.4 million in 2021.

The fall season slowed down considerably after a promising summer, with total fall box office dropping 23.4% to $703.5 million versus $918.6 million in 2021. The top grossing fall film was "Smile" with $84.4 million grossed during the season. Average weekly fall box office gross was $87.9 million, down 23.4% from the $114.8 million average in 2021.

The winter season tracked along a similar trajectory. Total winter box office fell 12.4% from $1.36 billion in 2021 to $1.19 billion in 2022. There were three blockbuster films released in the winter, and they accounted for 71.8% of the total. "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" was the top winter film with $426.1 million.

In addition to having the largest total gross of the seasons, the summer films also had the largest average gross per film at $17.8 million, up 85.8% from the $9.6 million average in 2021. The spring films had the second-largest average gross per film at $13.4 million, followed by $7.8 million from the winter films and $4.3 million from the fall films.

The summer season logged the most admissions with 349.7 million, while the spring season was second with 206.2 million. Overall, admissions increased 65.8% from 452.0 million in 2021 to 749.5 million in 2022.

Walt Disney Co. retained its box office crown in 2022 as its 24 films grossed $1.87 billion, accounting for 25.6% of the year's total gross. Its flagship studio, Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures was the second-highest grossing studio of the year with $1.35 billion. Its 10 films averaged $135.3 million per film with the top-grossing film being " Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" with its $426.1 million 2022 box office gross.

NBCUniversal Media LLC claimed second place with a 22.4% market share from $1.64 billion in domestic box office. Its top studio, Universal Studios Inc., was the top-grossing studio of the year with $1.53 billion and a 20.9% market share. Its top-grossing film of the year was "Jurassic World Dominion" with $376.0 million.

There were 19 films that passed $100 million at the domestic box office in 2022, besting the 12 films in 2021. The top 25 films of the year grossed nearly $5.50 billion, averaging $219.8 million per film in 2022.

Economics of TV & Film is a regular feature from Kagan, a media research group within S&P Global Market Intelligence's TMT offering, providing exclusive research and commentary.

This article was published by S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.