Hollywood's 2022 box office reality check: Not enough hits and a movie shortage
LOS ANGELES — It was the year that the box office recovery from the COVID-19 catastrophe began to take shape.
Blockbusters hit the big screen, led by Tom Cruise, giant people-eating dinosaurs and James Cameron's tall, blue Na'vi. One year after Warner Bros. sent its entire release slate to HBO Max and cinemas simultaneously, the Burbank studio's movie posters boasted "only in theaters" like old times. In a show of confidence, the head of the world's biggest theater chain rolled down the streets of Pasadena in a Rose Parade float.
But it wasn't enough.
The year is expected to end with about $7.4 billion in ticket sales from the U.S. and Canada, according to analysts and studio estimates, down 35% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
When the hits came, they reminded audiences and studio executives of the good old days, proving that audiences want to go back to certain movies in droves.
There just weren't many movies of that caliber.
Only three 2022 pictures will have grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, assuming "Avatar: The Way of Water" reaches that milestone. The mega-budget movie is expected
