{"id":4251,"date":"2026-07-15T15:06:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:06:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4251"},"modified":"2026-07-15T15:06:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:06:32","slug":"the-box-office-bounces-back-gen-z-surprise-hits-and-more-have-hollywood-banking-on-a-10-billion-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4251","title":{"rendered":"The Box Office Bounces Back: Gen Z, Surprise Hits and More Have Hollywood Banking on a $10 Billion Year"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tImax CEO Richard Gelfond has no illusions about his newfound popularity. People are calling his phone and cozying up to him like he could have gotten them inside Taylor Swift\u2019s wedding at Madison Square Garden. But no, what they really want is a golden ticket to a preview of \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d Christopher Nolan\u2019s epic that was shot entirely with Imax cameras. Forecasting the frenzy, Imax put opening-weekend tickets on sale a full year in advance and saw them sell out in a matter of hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018The Batman 2\u2019 Delayed Again to February 2028; Matt Reeves Drops First Camera Test Footage of Robert Pattinson\u2019s Return<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019ve gotten calls from people I haven\u2019t talked to in years!\u201d Gelfond says with a chuckle. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty apparent the prospect of getting \u2018Odyssey\u2019 tickets in Imax has reunited me with old friends \u2014 and made me new ones.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s not just Homer fever that has America going to the movies again. For the first time since COVID threatened theaters with extinction, Hollywood is letting out a huge sigh of relief. Audiences have danced along with \u201cMichael,\u201d dressed in couture to see \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d and returned again and again to have the shit scared out of them by \u201cObsession.\u201d Popcorn is popping at concession stands (and moviegoers are shelling out extra to consume the buttery goodness in collectible themed buckets), teens are turning out in force (and sharing the fun on TikTok) and studio accountants are giddy as the list of blockbusters keeps growing. Yes, people have fallen back in love with the silver screen.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI am constantly having conversations with studio heads, and you can sense an optimism that they haven\u2019t felt in a long time,\u201d says Seth Rogen, who stars in this summer\u2019s comedy \u201cThe Invite.\u201d \u201cIt reminds me a little bit more of how it felt 15 years ago, in that there\u2019s a belief that they can win again.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0At a time when nothing is guaranteed, Hollywood has scored with familiar franchises and family films, including \u201cThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie,\u201d the year\u2019s first billion-dollar blockbuster; \u201cToy Story 5,\u201d which has raked in nearly $900 million to date and is expected to overtake \u201cToy Story 4\u201d ($1.07 billion) as the largest in the 31-year-old series; and \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2,\u201d which outgrossed its predecessor\u2019s lifetime haul in just a few weeks and became a rare hit comedy with $688 million. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0Yet some of the year\u2019s most unconventional stories are among the biggest successes. \u201cProject Hail Mary,\u201d a cerebral astronaut epic starring Ryan Gosling, defied expectations with $683 million globally to become Amazon MGM\u2019s first certified smash. \u201cMichael,\u201d after a chaotic production and multiple delays, was a crowd-pleaser, becoming the first biopic to cross $1 billion in ticket sales. \u201cObsession,\u201d a twisted romantic thriller from newcomer Curry Barker, has been a wildly profitable smash with $426 million and counting against a minuscule $750,000 production budget. The film broke records after an unprecedented box office run, with second, third and fourth weekends that were larger than its debut. Somehow, none of the mania over \u201cObsession\u201d diminished demand for \u201cBackrooms,\u201d a low-budget horror sensation that hails from 20-year-old YouTube creator Kane Parsons. \u201cBackrooms\u201d put projections to shame, securing A24\u2019s largest debut yet with a staggering $81 million (way above Timoth\u00e9e Chalamet\u2019s \u201cMarty Supreme\u201d). It\u2019s now the indie company\u2019s highest-grossing release ever with more than $363 million. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat we needed to happen has finally happened,\u201d says Michael Kustermann, CEO of the popular dine-in cinema chain Alamo Drafthouse. \u201cThere\u2019s not just a good pipeline of content, but a diverse balance within the slate. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve been missing.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0But audiences are back, baby. Revenues for the summer are in line with those of 2019, a banner year for the business, and overall ticket sales are 10% above the same point in 2025, according to Rentrak. At this pace, yearly domestic grosses are expected to hit $10 billion for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0Two weekends after \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d (which opens on July 17) comes \u201cSpider-Man: Brand New Day,\u201d a sequel to one of the biggest pandemic-era films, and exhibitors are preparing for a Champagne problem: making sure there are enough auditoriums to accommodate the crowds for two major tentpoles. \u201cWe\u2019re having to add screens and showtimes \u2014 a lot of early and late-night screenings,\u201d says Kustermann. \u201cIt\u2019s unlike any time over the last couple of years.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0The reversal in fortune came when movies were getting pushed to the fringes of cultural conversations. There was a growing sense on Wall Street, and even at the studios, that cinemas couldn\u2019t compete with Netflix and YouTube. There were also fears that younger generations viewed going to theaters as hopelessly outdated \u2014 a throwback to a time before thousands of movies and shows could be accessed on demand from home.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0Everyone had it wrong. Younger moviegoers are driving the comeback. A recent report by Fandango found that 87% of Gen Zers and 82% of millennials saw at least one movie in a cinema in the past 12 months, compared with 70% of Gen Xers and 58% of baby boomers. Richard Linklater, the Oscar-nominated director of \u201cBoyhood\u201d and \u201cDazed and Confused,\u201d has witnessed this phenomenon at the Austin Film Society, the nonprofit Texas theater he founded in 1985. \u201cJust when you thought all these young people who grew up on TikTok are done with movies, it turns out they like to go with their friends,\u201d Linklater says. \u201cThe theatrical film experience has been under threat for 80 years, and it always withstands the ups and downs because we are communal beings.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0Others in Hollywood believe that theaters are thriving precisely because they offer a chance to unplug from smartphones and other devices. \u201cPeople have couch saturation or couch fatigue,\u201d says Colin Farrell, who will be seen in 2028\u2019s \u201cThe Batman: Part II.\u201d \u201cAs much as it\u2019s nice to stay at home and be entertained by the quality stuff that\u2019s coming through the streaming services, I think people realize that it\u2019s actually lovely to call an Uber and plan an evening around going to a movie theater.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAntoine Fuqua, the director of \u201cMichael,\u201d was thrilled when he attended screenings of the Michael Jackson biopic and watched the crowd groove with the King of Pop. It made him feel like audiences had \u201cfound the joy\u201d in going to the movies again. \u201cI remember going to \u2018Star Wars\u2019 and \u2018Jaws\u2019 with my father. Everyone talked about them in school and over the summer,\u201d Fuqua says. \u201cIf nothing else, this summer is showing us that people still yearn for that connective experience.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0A year ago, Netflix chief Ted Sarandos declared that cinemas were an \u201coutmoded idea for most people.\u201d If you want proof that that was misguided, just look at how much money theaters are making from their popcorn buckets. It\u2019s a trend that took off in 2024 with the release of sandworm containers for \u201cDune: Part Two,\u201d which went viral with their suggestive open-mouthed design. Now, nearly every major movie has its own themed popcorn box \u2014 from haute couture handbags for \u201cDevil Wears Prada 2\u201d to a Trojan horse for \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d Prices range from $20 to $80, and the boxes can command nearly double those figures on eBay. \u201cThree years ago, we didn\u2019t sell any movie-themed buckets. This year, it\u2019s going to be more than a $100 million business for us,\u201d says Adam Aron, CEO of AMC Theatres, the world\u2019s largest chain. \u201cIt\u2019s become part of the fun of going to the movies.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut it took a long time for the business to rebound. After the COVID lockdowns ended, people avoided their local cinemas, afraid of contracting the virus. Audiences eventually returned for a few blockbusters, like 2021\u2019s \u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home\u201d and 2022\u2019s \u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d \u2014 but not much else. Then the 2023 labor strikes created severe production delays, delivering another damaging setback. Studios weren\u2019t able to produce much for nearly a year as negotiations wore on, which meant there simply weren\u2019t enough new movies to entice patrons. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPeople don\u2019t understand how extreme the destruction of the strike was, and how because of it everything got delayed,\u201d says Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe actors and writers strikes also came as \u201cBarbenheimer,\u201d the portmanteau memorializing the simultaneous 2023 releases of \u201cOppenheimer\u201d and \u201cBarbie,\u201d had started to get people reenergized for going to cinemas again. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe lost momentum,\u201d says Peter Levinsohn, chairman of global distribution for Universal Entertainment. \u201cWe not only shut down production, but we essentially shut down marketing and promotion because actors couldn\u2019t talk about their work. It takes a lot of time to reboot the whole thing again and bring back audiences.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThree years later, film production has finally stabilized. In 2026, there will be 115 to 120 wide releases, which is roughly in line with the 120 films that major studios debuted in 2019 and up from the 94 that Hollywood fielded in 2024. Not only have legacy companies like Warner Bros., Sony and Paramount increased their volume, but new distributors like \u201cChristy\u201d producer Black Bear have launched and Amazon MGM Studios has decided to return to the theatrical business after focusing much of its attention on streaming. This year it will produce 13 theatrical releases, compared with three in 2025.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAlong with the greater output, box office watchers have been encouraged by the sheer number of surprise hits (like \u201cProject Hail Mary,\u201d \u201cObsession\u201d and \u201cBackrooms\u201d). That\u2019s giving filmmakers confidence that studios may be more open to backing unorthodox stories that they now believe could be popular. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSomeone once told me that a studio executive makes decisions out of either fear or greed,\u201d says Christopher Miller, the co-director of \u201cProject Hail Mary.\u201d \u201cYou want them to be making decisions out of greed because when people make decisions out of fear, that\u2019s when things get bad. That\u2019s when they make conservative choices about making things that feel like things that have come before. And what we\u2019re finding is people don\u2019t want to see the thing they\u2019ve seen 100 times before. They want to see something new.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tNot every movie has resonated with audiences. Interestingly, many of the year\u2019s biggest flops have been from once-dominant genres. The recent failure of \u201cSupergirl,\u201d which was startlingly earthbound with $115 million worldwide against a $170 million budget, signals that superhero movies are no longer the most popular game in town. Yes, \u201cSpider-Man: Brand New Day\u201d and December\u2019s \u201cAvengers: Doomsday\u201d will be juggernauts, but they feature heroes who are household names. Films that center on lesser-known comic book protagonists, like last year\u2019s \u201cThunderbolts\u201d and \u201cThe Fantastic Four: First Steps,\u201d are failing to draw the crowds that used to show up to see anyone in a mask or cape.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0It\u2019s not just superhero movies that are struggling. \u201cStar Wars\u201d spinoff \u201cThe Mandalorian and Grogu,\u201d the lowest earning of the franchise with $340 million, and \u201cMasters of the Universe,\u201d which tapped out at $112 million and cost a staggering $250 million, were two properties that bombed, underscoring the reality that brand recognition alone isn\u2019t enough to fill seats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe common thread in terms of what\u2019s working is freshness and excellence,\u201d says Phil Lord, co-director of \u201cProject Hail Mary.\u201d \u201cThere\u2019s always an appetite for great movies.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tA number of big films are on the horizon, some of which may fall short of greatness. However, there do seem to be enough major releases to keep multiplexes full, particularly over Thanksgiving and Christmas, when spinoffs and sequels to \u201cDune,\u201d \u201cThe Avengers,\u201d \u201cMeet the Parents\u201d and \u201cThe Hunger Games\u201d will open.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe end of the year looks very strong,\u201d says Eric Handler, an exhibition industry analyst with Roth Capital Partners. \u201cAnd the holidays are positively loaded.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Kevin Hart\u2019s Ice-Bath Interview Show \u2018Cold as Balls\u2019 to Debut New Episodes on Netflix (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tMovie theater owners have long dreamed about this year\u2019s turnaround, but they worry that their hard-fought revival may be fleeting. First there\u2019s the looming sale of Warner Bros. to Paramount Skydance, which analysts and exhibitors believe will result in fewer new films to showcase. There\u2019s precedent: After Disney\u2019s 2019 purchase of 20th Century Fox left the industry short a major studio, output from the renamed 20th Century Studios shrank dramatically. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison has promised the joint media company will put even more movies in theaters \u2014 upwards of 30 a year. Yet rivals doubt that volume is realistic, especially as the company seeks to find $6 billion in cost savings by eliminating \u201cduplicative operations across the business.\u201d Plus, no other studio delivers that kind of output \u2014 Universal releases the most movies of any entertainment company, with roughly 20 films a year, followed by Disney with 16.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019re very concerned,\u201d says Michael O\u2019Leary, head of Cinema United, the movie theater industry trade group. \u201cOne of the legacy studios that has been a pillar of this industry for over 100 years is going away. The recent past tells us that when you have mergers like this, production goes down and fewer movies get released, and that is exactly what this industry doesn\u2019t need.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother big debate is about the theatrical window \u2014 the industry term for the length of time a film plays exclusively on the big screen. For decades, every movie remained in cinemas for at least 90 days before heading to digital platforms. But in 2020, during the worst of the pandemic, the one-size-fits-all model for theatrical distribution was jettisoned. Lacking leverage, exhibitors like AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas struck deals with Universal that allowed the studio to put a film on demand after roughly 16 days. That led to mass experimentation across the industry, including Warner Bros.\u2019 ill-fated strategy to release its entire 2021 theatrical slate concurrently on HBO Max. In the end, studios found they were cannibalizing their own business. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt was a fundamental misunderstanding of the economic underpinnings of the ecosystem,\u201d says Rothman. \u201cThere remains nothing that commands cultural urgency and attention like a successful theatrical film.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tStudios have mostly embraced Rothman\u2019s point of view and recognize that having movies in theaters raises their profile and enhances their value when they debut on home entertainment platforms. That\u2019s led to another important pivot: Companies like Disney, Paramount and Universal have now coalesced around a 45-day window. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s incredibly important for the industry to unify around a theatrical window so there\u2019s no confusion,\u201d says Josh Greenstein, co-chair of Paramount Pictures. \u201cThe audience needs to understand the only place they can see a film for the first 45 days is in a movie theater. There\u2019s no \u2018Let me just wait\u2019 if they want to be part of the conversation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tTwo decades ago, people went to the movies as a social activity and weren\u2019t picky about what was playing on-screen. Now, with seemingly endless entertainment options available to them, audiences are more discerning about what they\u2019ll leave the house to see. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s not as simple as people coming out of the movie and saying they liked it,\u201d says Adam Fogelson, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair. \u201cThat may not be sufficient to motivate someone who wasn\u2019t already planning to buy a ticket. When an audience is able to say to their friends that they love the experience of being in a theater for any particular film, that carries a ton of weight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd if the early word on a new movie is negative on social media, they won\u2019t come out at all.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf a movie isn\u2019t great or isn\u2019t perceived to be great, it doesn\u2019t open strong. And if it does open, it could fizzle very quickly,\u201d says Alan Bergman, chairman of Disney Entertainment Studios. \u201cLong gone are the days where you can have a movie that\u2019s not very good and still get a week or two out of it. By Friday night, it\u2019s out there if people like it or not.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSome audiences haven\u2019t returned in full force, and others might go more often if there were more movies made for them. Hollywood hasn\u2019t figured out how to get moviegoers over 40 back. Gen X and baby boomers showed up for all-audience films like \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2\u201d and \u201cMichael,\u201d but ignored pictures that were pitched at them, like the war movie \u201cPressure\u201d with Brendan Fraser and the Lesley Manville romantic drama \u201cMidwinter Break.\u201d Meanwhile, industry watchers believe there aren\u2019t enough films geared to women or Black or Hispanic ticket buyers, three demographics that often turn out for movies that are produced with them in mind.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNot every movie has to be an event for everyone. You just need it to be an event for someone,\u201d says Dana Goldberg, co-chair of Paramount Pictures. \u201cAs long as we can identify the group that\u2019s going to turn out, and provided you make it on a budget that is reasonable for that group, if they get really excited, you can broaden out, and that\u2019s when you\u2019re seeing some of these outsized hits.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tAline Brosh McKenna, who wrote \u201cThe Devil Wears Prada 2,\u201d hopes that unexpected wins like last year\u2019s female-skewing \u201cThe Housemaid,\u201d a $35 million production that will be hugely profitable after racking up $400 million, and this spring\u2019s \u201cThe Drama\u201d \u2014 a dark comedy starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson that grossed an impressive $131 million \u2014 will inspire studios to consider more than just men when they\u2019re greenlighting a slate of films. \u201cMale audiences are still the default, and I think that does the audience a disservice,\u201d McKenna says. \u201cI have a running joke that I\u2019m going to call my company Big Surprise, because it\u2019s always such a \u2018big surprise\u2019 when women turn out. Women drive a lot of socializing, so I think there\u2019s never enough geared toward them.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tWhose fault is it? \u201cThe patriarchy,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tSince theaters emerged from lockdown, there\u2019s been a fierce debate about when \u2014 or if \u2014the business will return to pre-pandemic levels. In the Before Times, the domestic box office regularly hit $11 billion annually as franchises like \u201cFast & Furious,\u201d \u201cThe Avengers\u201d and \u201cHarry Potter\u201d filled theaters. But some executives and creatives feel that cinemas don\u2019t need to keep chasing what they once were.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u00a0 \u201cWithout a doubt, we have turned a corner, but I also don\u2019t believe we can just look backwards and try to replicate what we were before COVID,\u201d says Courtenay Valenti, head of film, streaming and theatrical at Amazon MGM Studios. \u201cWe have to be very forward-looking, stay nimble and keep innovating, because the audiences of 2026 are not like they were in 2018 or 2019.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThere have been turning points throughout Hollywood history when an old order collapsed and was replaced by something cooler and more provocative. Take the 1960s, when the studio system imploded as epic costume dramas like \u201cCleopatra\u201d and lavish musicals like \u201cDoctor Dolittle\u201d and \u201cPaint Your Wagon\u201d were costly debacles. In their place, films like \u201cBonnie and Clyde\u201d and \u201cThe Graduate\u201d came to define the culture by speaking to a roiling anger over the war in Vietnam and American politics.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tA similar phenomenon happened in the late \u201980s and early \u201990s with the rise of the indie film movement. There was a sense that Hollywood had abandoned its artistic daring by focusing on films like \u201cDays of Thunder\u201d and \u201cThe Last Boy Scout\u201d that were too loud, too bloated, too crassly commercial. Their overindulgence allowed filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh and Robert Rodriguez to emerge and find an audience for scrappy and transgressive stories. The success of \u201cBackrooms\u201d and \u201cObsession,\u201d which were made by 20-something directors, and \u201cIron Lung,\u201d a sci-fi horror film from YouTuber Mark \u201cMarkiplier\u201d Fischbach, may signal that a rising generation is poised to take the movie business in a revolutionary direction.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere have always been periodic moments of refreshment in this business,\u201d Rothman says. \u201cIt\u2019s not just that there have been some internet-driven hits; it\u2019s how strongly younger audiences are responding. There are new voices being heard in exciting ways, and that\u2019s likely to affect what Hollywood itself does.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith younger audiences driving ticket sales, filmmakers believe that movies need to reflect their tastes and values. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cYoung people can sniff cynicism and when a movie was made solely out of a desire to make money or to satisfy studio conglomerate interests,\u201d says Miller. \u201cThey want to see things that were made out of passion and love.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tIt also helps that when these filmmakers were starting out on YouTube, they needed to find a way to bolster their viewership without relying on global marketing campaigns. That gave them a more direct relationship with their audience and a clearer understanding of what people want to see. Their fans are clamoring for stories that speak to their hopes and fears, rather than adaptations of rickety IP like He-Man and \u201cStar Wars,\u201d which were popular when their parents were kids.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe audience was out there; it\u2019s just that we were making the wrong movies for them,\u201d says Jason Blum, whose company Blumhouse Atomic Monster produced \u201cObsession\u201d and \u201cBackrooms.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tThe popularity of those films has set off a mad hunt to unearth the next Parsons or Barker. In recent weeks, studios and producers have announced a wave of projects rooted in the internet, including a movie based on the creepy digital phenomenon \u201cSiren Head\u201d and a big-screen version of the YouTube series \u201cMandela Catalogue\u201d that will be produced by Steven Spielberg.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tBut Blum isn\u2019t sure this scramble is wise.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s not just about finding people who are popular on YouTube or TikTok and throwing a bunch of money at them,\u201d he says. \u201cThe directors of \u2018Backrooms\u2019 and \u2018Obsession\u2019 toiled over their scripts for years. You can\u2019t rush things. The movies have to be good, and that takes time and effort.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Toy Story\u2019 Franchise Has Generated $51 Billion in Economic Activity, Study Finds<\/a><\/p>\n

\nMarc Malkin contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Movie theaters are having their biggest year ever since the pandemic thanks to box office hits ‘Obsession,’ ‘Projection Hail Mary,’ ‘Michael’ and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Box Office Bounces Back: Gen Z, Surprise Hits and More Have Hollywood Banking on a $10 Billion Year - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=4251\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Box Office Bounces Back: Gen Z, Surprise Hits and More Have Hollywood Banking on a $10 Billion Year - 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