State of the Film Business in 2023: A Special Report

This has been a pivotal year for a movie business that struggled mightily during the pandemic era and is at last showing encouraging signs of recovery.

Variety Intelligence Platform’s special report “Across the Movie-Verse” dives deep into the current state of the film industry to give a sense of not just how far the silver screen has come from the doldrums of recent years but what the future holds, as both new opportunities and unforeseen challenges abound.

As “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Top Gun: Maverick” proved, certain Hollywood blockbusters are still very potent. But “Across the Movie-Verse” explains, via ample data and insights, that not even the mighty superhero genre is bulletproof, and other genres — from horror to arthouse — have distinct market dynamics impacting their success. Thus, any discussion of movies in monolithic terms is overly simplistic.

Studios and exhibitors are navigating a tricky landscape both in the U.S. and overseas, and this VIP+ report probes financial and box-office numbers to reveal the trends to note across rising ticket prices, shrinking theatrical footprints and demographic behaviors.

You’ll also get a deep dive into the intricacies of film distribution, from changing windowing strategies at the box office to the incredible growth of digital release modes, including SVOD, home entertainment and VOD.

There is so much to convey in this look at a film business contending with a broad range of external and internal forces reshaping its outlook. “Across the Movie-Verse” arrives for readers just as the crucial summer season kicks off, but it’s a document that enables industry pros to assess their strategies long into the future.