DALLAS — Let’s talk about some movie magic. Not the magical moments from the big screen, though, this is about the money-making kind of magic.
For many years the box office churned out bigger blockbuster results decade after decade. According to statistics from Box Office Mojo by IMDbPro, theater receipts went from $1,642,400,771 from 1980 to 1990. The from $4,326,824,577 in 1990 — to $7,476,224,972 in 2000 and then to $10,585,388,159 in 2010.
But then a huge plot twist…followed by another one
That steep upward trend in movie watchers heading to theaters topped out in 2018 and 2019 when box office totals surpassed $11 million. Then, in 2020, the pandemic shuttered theaters and obliterated revenue, knocking it down to $2,113,386,800 in 2020. The box office total hasn’t been near that level since the early 1980s.
In the years following the pandemic-low in 2020, audiences started returning, helping movie ticket sales to rebound to a total of $8,908,297,471 in 2023…