Hollywood box office suffers deficit of $600 million in first quarter of 2020 amid COVID-19 crisis
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Most damage to the business was done in the last month as theatres remained shut and people generally avoided staying out because of COVID-19.
The first quarter of 2020 doesn’t end well for those in the movie business with all countries under lockdown amid coronavirus scare and theatres around the world shut down for business.
According to a report in Hollywood Reporter, box office revenue in North America, that is, Hollywood, has suffered a steep 25 per cent year-over-year decline. This means there has been a deficit of $600 million in the first quarter already.
Most damage to the business was done in the last month as theatres remained shut and people generally avoided staying out because of COVID-19 that has taken a toll on humanity.
Domestic ticket sales in North America turned in a combined $1.81 billion from Jan. 1 through March 19, the day when Comscore stopped reporting theater grosses. That compares to $2.41 billion for the first full three months of 2019, according to Comscore.
As there is no respite from COVID-19, there is no news on when the theatres will reopen.
Meanwhile, major production houses have already stalled the release of their films and postponed them to next year, 2021.