By Madison Thibodeau ’21
The movies. It is for all ages and is a guaranteed good time. We go for the big screen, reclining chairs, soda, candy, and hot food.
This movie theater experience was expected to tremendously decline from 2007 to 2009 because of the Great Recession. However, the box office unexpectedly proved everyone wrong by remaining recession-proof.
Then the year 2017 came as the worst summer movie season in history and the movie attendance was at its lowest in 25 years. But in 2018 and 2019, the box office is having its best years in recent history.
Films are doing better than projected numbers and movie attendance is continuing to increase. But why has there been such an increase in the box office?
There have been different opinions about what made the years 2018 and 2019 the box office rebound. The obvious assumptions are the economic uprising and popular film hits. However, the diversity and inclusivity of new movie releases are hitting the top of the box office at record highs.
Diversity is a variety of cultural, racial, and ethnic groups within a society. Inclusivity puts this concept of diversity into action by creating a welcoming environment for individuals to involve, respect, and connect.
These movies that are diverse and inclusive show that the world is ready for characters, stories, and leads to be something that has not been seen before in the box office. This increase in the box office performance can be attributed to the many diverse films playing on the big screen.
In 2018, Black Panther made a total gross of 700,059,566 dollars and Crazy Rich Asians made a total gross of 174,532,921 dollars. These box office highs are because of the all African American cast in Black Panther and the all Asian cast in Crazy Rich Asians. Both films had a specific ethnic group for a cast and expressed the cultural of these groups through the story line.
In 2019, Captain Marvel made a total gross of 1,126,129,839 dollars and in 2018, Mary Poppins Returns made a total gross of 171,958,438 dollars. These box office hits both have a strong female lead with Brie Larson leading Captain Marvel and Emily Blunt leading Mary Poppins Returns. Both films represented the female population by showing the strength and independence that women possess.
In 2019, Spider-man: Into the Spider-Verse made a total gross of 190,241,310 dollars and in 2018, Us made a total gross of 255,206,930 dollars. These box office winners are because of the leading actors being of African American descent. Both films are seek to show the success of African American actors and is representing the amazingness of African America men and women.
All of these examples of 2018 and 2019 box office hits have diversity and inclusivity which produced the box office rebound. This rebound is proving that the world is excited and delighted for something different than the history of normal or original films.
