Global cinema box office revenue weighed in at 26 billion in 2022, a healthy 27 improvement compared with 2021, but still a long way short of pre-pandemic levels.

In its final estimate of the full year to Dec. 31, 2022, research firm Gower Street Analytics calculated that global gross box office takings reached 25.9 billion. That compared with 21.4 billion in 2021.

The 2022 number is 35 below the 2017-19 average in the three years before Covid-19 upended the global film industry. Gower Street estimates that the 2022 number represents an annual loss of 14 billion in gross revenue.

Having been the highest grossing territory in both 2020 and 2021, China relinquished the box office crown to the North American (aka ‘domestic’) market in 2022.

According to Comscore Movies, the North American market achieved an estimated 7.5 billion in 2022. That was 65 up against 2021, but 35 behind the 2017-2019 average.

China is calculated to have finished at approximately 4.33 billion, or some 36 behind 2021. The 2022 China figure was fully 49 down on...