In 2019, attendance at movie theaters had dipped to an all time low. Soon after the 2020 quarantine made theater attendance almost entirely impossible for most. Generally, people began to rely on streaming services as an alternative to enjoying their favorite movies while maintaining safety.
In other words, movie theaters endured a major collapse downturn during the COVID-19 pandemic, as ticket and concession sales plummeted with the rise of streaming. To paint the bigger picture of the ramifications that the pandemic posed on the movie theater industry, an article titled “The Biggest Shift in the History of Hollywood” detailed that the pandemic caused theaters to lose roughly 17 billion in revenue.
Yikes…
However, after the pandemic something shifted, both in entertainment consumption habits, but also the quality of movies themselves.
With recent successes like “Spiderman: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey,” it’s no doubt that 2026 has been a huge commercial success for movies. A much wider audience than Gen Z is being targeted and reached!
Below is an overview for the overall revenue for movies released between 2020 and 2025
- 2020: USD 12.2 billion
- 2021: USD 21.3 billion
- 2022: USD 26 billion
- 2023: USD 33.9 billion
- 2024: USD 30 billion
- 2025: USD 33.5 billion
Now here’s 2026…
Box Office Mojo projects a box office total of USD 21.73 billion through the first nine months, surpassing both 2020 and 2021’s same Jan-September spans. The 2026 revenue is likely to keep exploding with new releases such as “Avengers: Doom Day,” “The Hunger Games,” “Whalefall,” and many more. Box office figures only tell part of the story, though. There’s a human element to this shifting back to the theater seats! Here’s what some of our very own here at Marian Catholic had to say about this phenomenon……
Ms. Behrens, Film Club advisor and Marian teacher, shared her views on cinema: “I’m not a cinephile, however at least some movies were well advertised to the point where people want to go to the movie theater. For example, movies like “Backrooms” and “Obsession.” I literally got a cine mark subscription because of these movies!”
Mr. Cassidy also adds his take on his favorite movie detailing why it’s his favorite, “This was a tough year to find a good one but I will have to go with “Spiderman Brand New Day.” I am, after all, a superhero guy. But at a close second would be “Project, Hail Mary.” The little rock-like alien creature was probably my favorite character from the year. “Brand New Day” stood out because of a solid performance from Tom Holland. He handles the serious drama and the comedic antics of Spiderman better than any other actor who has played him. I thought he did very well in this and it was probably the most comic accurate Spiderman thus far. The movie itself was not perfect however as the portrayal of Frank Castle, the Punisher, was way off the mark, though sort of in keeping with how the comics sometimes handle characters that are not in their own books.”
Now here are some of favorite 2026 teachers from the Marian Catholic Staff:
Mr. Kolimas – “The Odyssey”
Mr. Bodnar – “The Mandalorian and Grogu”
Ms. Montas – “If I Go, Will They Miss Me”
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day”
Ms. Keller – “The Odyssey”
Ms. Jones – “The Odyssey,” also looking forward to seeing “Coyote vs. Acme”
Mr Lachick – “Avengers: Doomsday”
Ms Jackson – “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and looking forward to “Avengers: Doom Day”
Mr. Sovereign – Not a specific favorite movie, but watched a ton of documentaries in relation to Ulysses S. Grant and many other notable figures
Ms. Russell – “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”
Mr. Kopycinski – “Leviticus”
Ms. Cifelli – “Project Hail Mary”
Mr. Becvar – “The Odyssey”
Perhaps 2026 could be the best year in cinema, because filmmakers are not only appealing to what audiences may like, but using creative ambition to explore multifaceted themes. Striking this balance of pop culture and more sophisticated social messaging is a sign of the great talent in the industry today. In a record-breaking feat, Oppenheim’s, “You Can See Everything”, a film about Nathan Fielder, just debuted with the highest rating ever in history for a film in Letterboxd history. If 2026 continues on this path its films may not be defined by what entertained us, but by how they reshaped the way we think.