Ten weeks into 2013, the North American box office continues to track as a B-level year (nearly identical to 2008 and 2011), well below recent A-level years (2009, 2010 and 2012). To date, 2013 totals $1.528 billion for wide-release films, while 2008 was $1.519 billion at this point and 2011 was $1.482 billion.
The stronger years were about $350 million higher by this time: 2010 was $1.885 billion, 2012 was $1.865 billion and 2009 was $1.791 billion.
As a reminder, the A-level up years finished around $10 billion for the full year: $10.15 billion in 2012, $10.05 billion in 2009 and $9.81 billion in 2010. The B-level/ down years ended up in the low-$9 billion range: $9.49 billion in 2011 and $9.11 billion in 2008. Nothing on the horizon looks like it can shake 2013 off that trajectory.
Note: the ShowbuzzDaily box office totals include wide release films (films that played at some point over 400 screens and usually represent about 85% of total box office). Each year is defined as starting the first Monday in January, and each period in the chart above is the first 70 days (10 weeks) after that starting date. 2008 is Jan 7-Mar 16. 2009 is Jan 5-Mar 15. 2010 is Jan 4-Mar 14. 2011 is Jan 3-Mar 13. 2012 is Jan 2-Mar 11. 2013 is Jan 7-Mar 17.
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