Box office in 2023: Disney, Universal duke it out while Warner lags
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The arrival of Independence Day marks a traditional halfway point for the big-movie calendar, and taking stock of this year vs. last year shows some success from more of the same distributors in an industry that's building on 2022 figures while still trying to rebound from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Year-to-date in 2023, total domestic box office gross has neared $4.5B overall -- a little more than 20% better than the same point last year, and far better than the $1.1B at the halfway point of 2021, which was still weighed down by theaters struggling to reopen after lockdowns.
But it's still more than 20% below 2019's measure of nearly $5.7B over the same span, suggesting an ongoing struggle to shake off the industry-changing effects of the pandemic.
The distributors leading the box-office charge this year are on pace to be the same as last year -- and they're the only two that have crossed $1B in domestic ticket sales so far.
Tops so far in 2023 is again Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS), if you count in its Searchlight and 20th Century Studios labels. The Mouse House combined has a 30.28% share of domestic ticket grosses this year, with $1.356B.
Universal (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is next: If you count in its other Focus Features label, it logs $1.129B in year-to-date grosses -- a 25.2% share -- paced by 2023's top film. The Super Mario Bros. Movie has grossed $573.5M domestically, putting it ahead of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (DIS) with $355.6M.
Disney and Universal finished 1-2 among distributors for full-year 2022 as well.
Also like last year, Universal is using more releases to keep up: The studio has put out a combined 21 pictures so far this year to more blockbuster-focused Disney's 14. (Last year, Universal mainly drew grosses from 35 films, to Disney's 23.)
The No. 3 distributor for this year so far is Sony (NYSE:SONY), with $582.6M and a 13% share, most of which is provided by a bona fide hit in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which has hit $340.4M in domestic grosses and counting.
Fourth so far, and waiting in the wings, is Paramount (PARA) (PARAA). With six films so far in 2023, it's grossed $398.5M, for an 8.9% share. It had cruised to the top at the halfway point last year thanks to Top Gun: Maverick -- and it's set to pounce again in just over a week when Tom Cruise returns in Mission: Impossible -- Dead Reckoning Part 1.
Next is mini-major Lions Gate (LGF.A) (LGF.B), which has ridden the success of John Wick Chapter 4 to the fifth spot among distributors with a total $326.4M.
And that means a disappointing 2023 so far for traditional Big-Five power Warner Bros. (NASDAQ:WBD) -- behind even Lions Gate -- with seven films that have grossed $263.7M for just a 5.89% share of the market. (To date, Warner Bros. is getting chased by Amazon Studios (AMZN) and its United Artists/MGM labels, with five films together that have drawn $233.2M and a 5.2% market share.)
Warner is suffering so far from the actively sinking big-budget DC film The Flash, still under $100M, as well as a disappointing performance from March's Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which reached just $57.6M domestically. So it's no surprise that the studio is now looking ahead to the release of the high-stakes Barbie movie on July 21.
Exhibitor stocks still digging their way out of a 2020 hole: AMC Entertainment (AMC); Cineworld (OTCPK:CNNWQ); Cinemark (CNK); (IMAX); Marcus (MCS); Reading International (RDI); Cineplex (CGX:CA); National CineMedia (NCMI).
More on the 2023 box office

New 'Indiana Jones' discovers $60M to lead box office
Cineplex says QTD box office revenues at about 88% of same period pre-pandemic
Marvel's 'Guardians' protect lead at weekend box office
'Fast X' zooms to capture box-office bucks for weekend
'Mario' tracking toward another big box-office weekend
'John Wick 4' blows away rivals with $73.5M opening; Lions Gate gains