Box office hit a record $11.37B in 2016, beating 2015’s massive haul
There were ups and downs, but 2016 ultimately proved to be a record year at the box office.
Thanks to holiday hits such as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the animated Sing, 2016’s final tally reached an all-time high of $11.37 billion, according to industry tracker comScore.
The late push enabled 2016 to slip past 2015’s previous record of $11.14 billion, the first time the box office had crossed the $11 billion mark.
“This is reason for celebration — the final six weeks of the year, movies came on like wildfire,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. “It was these big ones like Rogue One and Sing dominating, and Oscar contenders like La La Land and Fences” expanding into additional cities. “There’s so much film out there. We were able to catapult to a new record by the skin of our teeth.”
2016 had its well-chronicled troubles. The summer was stuck in a rut with sequel-itis. Only three of 14 summer sequels outperformed their originals (Captain America: Civil War, Finding Dory and The Purge: Election Year). May’s Alice Through the Looking Glass exemplified the malaise, making just $77 million — a 77% drop from the $334.2 million earned by 2010’s Alice In Wonderland.
The box office continued to struggle through a slow fall,…
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