NEW YORK (AP) – Reports of the movie theater’s death may have been greatly exaggerated.
This weekend, ticket sales will reach a new record for the year, passing the previous 2016 high of $11.4 billion. With a week and a half of moviegoing left, the U.S. and Canadian box office is expected to end up around $11.8 billion for the year.
Driven in part by zeitgeist-grabbing cultural events like “Black Panther,” ”Crazy Rich Asians” and even documentaries like “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” the box office sped past $11 billion faster than it ever has before.
The overall domestic gross is up nearly 9 percent from last year; ticket sales are up about 6 percent.
