Digital Dominance Challenged as Moviegoers Return to Theaters

While consumers like the convenience of digital streaming, all it took to get them back in movie theaters were two superheroes with attitudes.

Even though PYMNTS Intelligence’s “How the World Does Digital” report, which examines the digital behaviors of more than 817 million consumers across 11 countries, along with recent industry trends and Netflix’s earnings, paint a clear picture of streaming’s growing supremacy,  a plot twist emerged over the weekend from AMC Entertainment and Cinemark Holdings: Moviegoing is staging an unexpected and impressive comeback.

AMC Entertainment set new records for both attendance and admissions revenue during the weekend of July 26-28, 2024, reporting an influx of more than 6 million moviegoers across its AMC Theatres in the U.S. and Odeon Cinemas worldwide.

The standout performer was Disney and Marvel’s “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which not only set industry records for an opening weekend for an R-rated film, but also established new AMC benchmarks for attendance and revenue in this category. The film earned a reported $205 million domestically.

In addition to box office success, AMC reported its highest food and beverage revenue weekend since 2019, driven by record sales at its MacGuffins bars. Merchandise for “Deadpool & Wolverine” also sold out, becoming AMC’s top merchandise program of the year and second highest in the company’s history, behind only the “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour”  concert film.

AMC Chairman and CEO Adam Aron noted the significance of these records, saying, “The weekend’s achievements underscore the strong return of cinema and our successful collaborations with studios and filmmakers.”

Meanwhile, Cinemark Holdings achieved its highest-ever domestic box office for a summer opening weekend with the release of “Deadpool & Wolverine.” The film set records for both Cinemark XD and D-BOX motion seats, reflecting strong demand for immersive cinema experiences. It also led to the highest concessions revenue Cinemark has seen since the pandemic, driven by robust sales of snacks and merchandise.

Cinemark President and CEO Sean Gamble praised the film’s impact, noting its role in elevating the moviegoing experience and demonstrating the cinema industry’s resilience.

“Building upon strong box office momentum over the past two months, Disney and Marvel’s highly anticipated superhero adventure, “Deadpool & Wolverine,” just took theatrical moviegoing to a new stratosphere,” Gamble stated. “We are thrilled to share that ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ drove Cinemark’s biggest summer opening weekend of all time, generated record-breaking results in premium formats, and delivered our highest weekend of concession revenues since the pandemic.”

Looking ahead, Cinemark anticipates continued success with upcoming releases including “It Ends with Us,” “Borderlands,” and “Joker: Folie à Deux.”

The “How the World Does Digital” report offers a comprehensive analysis of digital engagement across 11 countries, providing a snapshot of a rapidly evolving global digital landscape. Drawing on insights from nearly 60,000 consumers, the report delves into how digital infrastructure, generational shifts, and economic factors influence digital behaviors worldwide.

Covering a range of regions including the U.S., U.K., and five major EU countries—France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain — as well as Brazil, Japan, and Singapore, the report encompasses a population statistically representative of about 800 million people. It evaluates digital activities across 40 categories, including work, lifestyle, payments, shopping, dining, health, entertainment, communication, travel and banking.

Video streaming was the No. 1 digital activity in seven of the 11 countries surveyed; Singapore’s was music streaming; Italy’s was messaging; the Netherlands was mobile banking; and messaging earned the top spot in Japan. Of the four countries that didn’t list video streaming No. 1, it was No. 2 for three of them, with watching a livestream No. 2 in Japan.