U.S. Film Industry Statistics [2022]: Facts About The U.S. Film Industry

Industry Statistics

Research Summary. The U.S. film industry plays a crucial role in the American culture as well as the economy. In fact, Hollywood is still the number one film industry in the world. Netflix and Amazon Prime are also huge. However, the COVID-19 Pandemic has also had a major impact on the industry. According to our extensive research:

In 2020, box office revenue was only $2.09 billion for the North American film industry.
While this might seem like a lot, it was actually down from $11.32 billion in 2019.
As of April 2021, 60% of North American theaters reopened for the first time in six months. However, U.S. box office revenue is still 76% lower than it was the same month prior to the Pandemic.
The Film Industry is worth $42.5 billion, being vastly overtaken in the entertainment industry by Gaming, which is now worth $145.7 billion.
Black Widow was the best-selling movie of 2021, with a total gross income of $183.3 million.

For further analysis, we broke down the data in the following ways:
Customer | Employment | Pandemic Numbers and Post-Pandemic Predictions | Production

North American box office revenue fell from $11.32 billion in 2019 to $2.09 billion in 2020

General U.S. Film Industry Statistics

The COVID-19 Pandemic has hit the film industry hard. But, seeing as movies are still being produced, it can be hard to tell just how rough things have been. Overall, the current status of the industry seems to walk the tightrope between precariousness and absolute catastrophe. Here are some insights our research uncovered:

Despite taking a hit from COVID-19, the U.S. film industry is expected to experience a CAGR of 8.3% between 2021 to 2027.

And this is despite a market size decline of 10.2% per year between 2016 and 2021. In 2019, the industry was worth $42.2 million and wasn’t expected to exceed that former number until 2027, when the industry is estimated to reach $43.9million.
Pre-Pandemic, Hollywood contributed $504 billion to the U.S. GDP.

That’s at least 3.2% of the goods and services portion of GDP. But, these numbers have likely been reduced due to the Pandemic.
In 2020, Film Entertainment revenue amounted to $25.9 billion.

That’s a 27% decline from 2019 when revenue was at $35.3 billion. No doubt, this decrease is the result of COVID-19 and its impact on the industry.
As of 2020, the U.S. movie industry is worth $91.83 billion.

And this has continued to grow throughout the Pandemic, despite theater closures. The industry is expected to have a CAGR of 4.1% from 2018 to 2025. [18]
China had the highest box office revenue in 2020, amounting to $3.1 billion.

Meanwhile, the North American box office revenue dropped to $2.09 billion, which is 33% lower than China’s.

U.S. Film Industry Customer Statistics

Customers have always been the most crucial aspect of film industry success. After all, the inability for consumers to go to theaters was a huge hit to the industry throughout 2020. The question is, are customers still interested in the traditional film industry? Here are some insights our research uncovered:

Only 14% of Americans go to the movie theater at least once a month.

In fact, the highest percentage (46%) only attend the movie theater once a year or less. No doubt, this has had a huge impact on the film industry’s recent decline.
Gen Z sees the most movies, with 43% reporting that they’ve seen a movie within the past month.

Though it might be surprising when you consider digitization, the younger generations actually go to the theaters more often than the older ones.

Only 34% of those in Gen X had seen a movie within the past month, and the number was even lower for Boomers. Of course, COVID-19 could have a hand in this, as older generations might feel less comfortable going out.
When considering population percentage, theaters are most popular with Latin X people.

Despite only making up 16.7% of the population, there were 10.4 million frequent Latin X moviegoers in 2019. While there were 22 million frequent moviegoers that were Caucasian, Caucasians constituted about 76.3%.
In only 17 years, the cost of seeing a movie has doubled.

In 2001, the average price of a single movie theater ticket was only $5.66. However, as of 2018, that number was up to $9.11. Families reported that they could easily spend upwards of $35 to see a movie, which had an impact on their decision to go.
AMC Theaters is the largest in the United States, with 8,043 total screens.

While the second and third largest are Regal Entertainment Group with 7,178 and Cinemark USA, Inc. with 4,630.

U.S. Film Industry Employment Statistics

Due to the sheer size of the film industry in the United States, there are many people who rely on it for employment. Unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 Pandemic has had a huge negative effect. Here are the facts:

The U.S. Film Industry employs roughly 2.5 million people.

And that number span across 93,000 businesses, of which the majority had to close throughout 2020.
The Film Industry pays out $188 billion per year in total wages.

And there’s a large disparity, as the average movie theater usher only makes around $25,308 annually, while those involved in film production can make well over $100,000.
Nearly all of the 125,000 movie theater employees were either laid off or furloughed due to the Pandemic.

Plus, many of the 170,000 actors employed also weren’t working during the height of the Pandemic.

U.S. Film Industry: Pandemic Numbers and Post-Pandemic Predictions

The void left by the Coronavirus Pandemic has impacted the Film Industry in a huge way. Instead of attending theaters, many are switching to online streaming services to receive their entertainment. Here are the facts:

Between 2019 and 2020, the number of movie tickets sold plummeted by 82%.

In 2019, there were roughly 1.24 billion movie theater tickets sold. However, this number dropped to only 223 million in 2020.
The market for streaming services grew by 37% in 2020.

And while this percentage accounts for Disney+, Netflix, and Hulu, a majority of the growth can be attributed to Disney+.
As of 2020, U.S. streaming services were worth $24 billion, while box office revenue was only $2.09 billion.

That means that streaming services receive nearly 91% more income.
Online streaming services are expected to experience a CAGR of 21.0% from 2021 to 2028.

This is significantly larger than the 8.3% expected from the overall film industry. No doubt, the COVID-19 Pandemic has had a huge impact on the public’s interest in digital media.

U.S. Film Industry Production Statistics

Despite the impacts of the Coronavirus Pandemic, the film industry continues to produce movies and other media. While production did slow down, there were still some major movie releases. Here’s what we found:

The Film Industry’s production spending increased by 16.1% in North America.

In 2020, global production spending reached an all-time high of $220.2 billion, with companies like Disney spending $28.6 billion alone.
Within the past five years, the most expensive film produced was 2019’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.

This film cost a whopping $365 million to make and edges ahead of yet another two Avengers movies for the title. Second and Third place goes to Avengers: Endgame ($356 million) and Avengers: Infinity War ($325 million).
Including distributing and marketing, the average movie costs at least $100 million to make.

Movie production alone can cost upwards of $65 million, while marketing and distribution cost $35 million. That means that when movies flop at the theater, the company that made them can be hit pretty hard.

U.S. Film Industry FAQ

Is the U.S. film industry the largest in the world?

Yes and no. While Hollywood is still the largest film industry in the world, the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic severely affected American theaters. Due to that, China has overtaken the U.S. in box office revenue by 33%.
How much is the movie industry worth in the U.S.?

The movie industry in the U.S. was worth $91.83 billion as of 2020 and has continued to grow throughout the Pandemic. The industry is expected to have a CAGR of 4.1% from 2018 to 2025.
How many people does the film industry employ in the U.S.?

The film industry employs roughly 2.1 million people across a wide range of job types, fields, and salaries.
How much does the film industry contribute to the U.S. economy?

The film industry provides a substantial contribution to the U.S. economy. Pre-Pandemic, Hollywood contributed $504 billion to the U.S. GDP or 3.2% of the goods and services portion of GDP.

Conclusion

With U.S. box office revenue being 76% lower immediately after theaters reopened, the film industry has a long way to climb to recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic. In fact, at only $2.09 billion, box office revenue is down 82% from 2019.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom for the film industry. The industry is expecting to experience a CAGR of 8.3% between 2021 to 2027. And, that number is even higher for online streaming, in which experts are predicting a massive CAGR of 21.0% from 2021 to 2028.

Overall, it’s clear that the American public might be moving away from theaters in favor of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+.