The holiday box office season is here, a revenue bonanza particularly between December 25 and January 2, when the top 10 films in North America total over $45 million per day on average. And the top 10 totals often exceed $60 million each day between December 25 and 27. As a baseline, we look at the the seven days December 16-22 that lead into the heart of the holiday period. Over those seven days, 2014 has totaled $196 million, actually a pretty good number: a touch above 2013’s $193 million and comfortably above the $181 million average since 2002.
| Box Office Volume — Top 10 Films North America | ||||||
| ($ millions) | Past 12 years — 2002-2013 | |||||
| # days | 2014 | 2013 | Average | Peak Year | Low Year | |
| Dec 16-22 | 7 | 196 | 193 | 181 | 223 (’03) | 112 (’08) |
| Dec 16-23 | 8 | 226 | 214 | 247 (’03) | 128 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-24 | 9 | 248 | 234 | 266 (’09) | 138 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-25 | 10 | 315 | 290 | 349 (’09) | 205 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-26 | 11 | 373 | 347 | 445 (’09) | 268 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-27 | 12 | 432 | 397 | 521 (’09) | 329 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-28 | 13 | 494 | 444 | 579 (’09) | 375 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-29 | 14 | 541 | 488 | 637 (’09) | 408 (’04) | |
| Dec 16-30 | 15 | 580 | 531 | 693 (’09) | 442 (’04) | |
| Dec 16-31 | 16 | 616 | 568 | 742 (’09) | 475 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-Jan 1 | 17 | 664 | 616 | 820 (’09) | 525 (’08) | |
| Dec 16-Jan 2 | 18 | 690 | 652 | 901 (’09) | 558 (’04) | |
| Dec 16-Jan 3 | 19 | 733 | 679 | 947 (’09) | 571 (’04) | |
And now we will start tracking the box office strength each day as the films begin to roll out. December 23 has averaged $29.8 million for the top 10 films over the past decade when that date has fallen on a weekday. So just an average performance on December 23 would take 2014 to $226 million for December 16-23, right in line with last year and still above average.
December 24 has averaged $18.8 million when it has fallen on weekday. If we assume that level for Christmas Eve, 2014’s total for December 16-24 would go to $245 million, a shade behind 2013 but still above average.
Christmas has averaged $55.9 million (whether December 25 is on a weekday or weekend). An average Christmas Day performance would take 2014 to $301 million for the 10 days between December 16 and 25, behind 2013’s pace but still narrowly ahead of the past decade or so average.
December 26 has averaged $63.1 million when it falls on a weekend. Assuming that level of box office for December 26, 2014 would move up to $363 million for December 16-26, a bit closer to 2013’s pace and decently ahead of the past decade average.
Come back each day as we assess the overall health of the holiday box office season.
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