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Breaking Down the Year in Hollywood by the Numbers
A sui generis overview of the year in cinema—from box office records and the shocking number of ‘Wicked’ collabs to the resale rate of that ‘Dune: Part Two’ popcorn bucket.
Presenting the latest installment of W’s column, “By the Numbers,” in which we look at a given field—from art and fashion to music and movies—through the metrics that are defining it. Bringing together both the essential and the eccentric, we’re telling a sui generis story of an industry. For W’s annual Best Performances issue, we’re looking back at the year in Hollywood, from box office records to awards season sweeps.
$37.68 billion is the projected global box office for 2025, up from $26 billion in 2022 but down from $42.3 billion in 2019.
$26 billion in 2022 but down from $42.3 billion in 2019.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Statista
The top 20 grossing films of 2024 were either sequels or based on already existing movies, books, and video games.
50% to 70% of major studios’ movies will be related to existing intellectual property in 2025.
Source: IMDB, CNBC
35% of Americans preferred watching movies in theaters rather than at home last year.
58% preferred theaters in 2019.
Source: The Wall Street Journal 
92 minutes is considered the “ideal” runtime for a film.
Source: Talker Research 
$1.7 billion is the worldwide revenue of Inside Out 2, the highest-grossing movie of 2024.
Source: Forbes
$221 million was the U.S. box office for the opening of Moana 2, which, along with Gladiator II and Wicked, led to the biggest Thanksgiving box office in history.
Source: CNBC
$114 million was the U.S. box office for Wicked’s debut, the biggest ever for a musical.
Source: Variety 
More than 400 brand partnerships were secured to promote the film.
Source: The New York Times
47% of Americans say it’s unacceptable to sing along to music at a movie theater.
52% say it’s unacceptable to make out.
Source: YouGov
5 movies—Babygirl, The Idea of You, Lonely Planet, Between the Temples, and A Family Affair— featured May-December romances with women cast as the older love interest.
2 of them starred Nicole Kidman.
Source: The Washington Post
9 major feature films starred women 50 years or older.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter 
1 country—Turkey—banned a screening of Luca Guadagnino’s film Queer, deeming it “too provocative.”
Source: Variety 
“Fuck” was said more than 400 times in Sean Baker’s Anora.
Source: Anora 
62% of American adolescents think sex isn’t necessary for the plots of movies and TV shows.
36% of American adults think movies have too many sex scenes.
Source: Center for Scholars & Storytellers at UCLA, YouGov
33% of men under 30 say movies and TV influence their views on what it means to be a man.
Source: Pew 
105.5 minutes was the cumulative length of standing ovations for films that premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
18 minutes was the length of the standing ovation for Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door at the 2024 Venice Film Festival, making it the longest in the festival’s history.
Source: New York, GQ
13 Oscar nominations were earned by Emilia Pérez, the highest number of the year.
Only 8 other movies—including Mary Poppins and Gone with the Wind—have received that many Oscar nominations.
Source: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 
At 29, Timothée Chalamet became the youngest best actor winner in SAG Awards history for A Complete Unknown.
An Oscar win would make him the youngest best actor in Academy Awards history by 275 days, beating the current title holder, Adrien Brody.
Source: Variety 
$150 million is the minimum amount a movie has to make to be nominated for the Golden Globes’ Cinematic and Box Office Achievement award.
20 films were eligible.
Wicked, which grossed $681.3 million worldwide by the day of the Golden Globes, won the award. Dune: Part Two, which was not nominated, had grossed $714 million by the same date.
Source: Variety
$24.99, plus tax, was the price for one of AMC’s collectible popcorn buckets for Dune: Part Two.
$299 to $805 is the current resale price.
Source: Rolling Stone, eBay 
77% of Americans have a positive opinion of Toy Story (1995) and 76% of Forrest Gump (1994), the two most popular movies in America.
Source: YouGov
