October box office revenue shows a return to form for moviegoing during the pandemic

Before the month of October, I was a bit concerned that the number of tentpole releases coming out during that month would result in muted returns for some of the films but October has proven to be solid for box office revenue and shows a return to form for moviegoing during the pandemic.

According to Comscore, via CNBC, box office revenue for the period October 1-21 came in at a staggering $445.4 million. This figure, which was released before the opening of Dune, was driven by strong openings for Venom: Let There Be Carnage ($90 million), No Time To Die ($55.2 million), and Halloween Kills ($49.4 million). Throw in the $41 million opening of Dune over the weekend and we have seen the month of October really representing the fact that moviegoing is still very strong. You can check out the Comscore chart below, which was completed before the results of this weekend’s box office.

Year to date, box office revenue for 2021 is at $2.8 billion which is up 36.4% from the $2.1 billion that was grossed up to this point when moviegoing was kneecapped by the pandemic. A sign that we aren’t 100% back to normal is that the figure is down 68.4% from 2019’s $9 billion take. There is still a lot of work to do but October’s performance alone shows that moviegoing can thrive if there is a product out there that people want to see. Given the fact that Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and The Matrix Resurrections are on the horizon, these upticks in box office trends should continue and that is exciting news for the industry after last year. Based purely on estimates, year-end ticket sales for 2021 could reach around $4 billion.

Box office in recent months continues to be dominated by younger moviegoers who are going out to the movies in strong numbers and on a consistent basis. This is why films like Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Halloween Kills have opened so well because they skewed a bit younger. Older generations still seem reluctant to head to their local theater to watch a movie, especially those with kids that cannot be vaccinated. This could change as vaccines become widely available to those under the age of 11 but we’ll have to wait and see how that all plays out.

Are YOU surprised by October’s box office performance?