2024 was, all told, a mixed year at the box office. Things started out on a dreadful note as the first half of the year was filled with flops, disappointments, and movies that simply couldn’t carry the load after 2023’s SAG and WGA strikes completely upended the release calendar. Fortunately, things turned around in the second half of the year thanks to hit movies like “Wicked,” “Deadpool & Wolverine,” and “Inside Out 2” turning the tide. Despite all of that, the global box office finished well below that for 2023, slowing the industry’s recovery in the aftermath of the 2020 lockdowns. At the same time, streaming’s place as the future was more firmly cemented.

According to Gower Street Analytics (via Deadline), the global box office total for 2024 was $30 billion, compared to $33.9 billion in 2023. That number includes $8.75 billion from domestic ticket sales, which was down from 2023 when that number topped $9 billion. In light of the strikes and the slow start to last year, that number could have been much worse. There is much to be said about that, and we will dive into it all a bit further here in a moment. But there’s one eye-opening statistic that helps put this all into perspective; namely, Netflix’s total revenue for the fiscal year ending in September 2024 was $37.5 billion (or, to put it another way, 25% more than the total global box office last year).

It’s certainly a bit of an apples to oranges equation, as Netflix is a subscription streaming service that has both movies and TV shows to attract customers. That said, if there was any question as to which section of the business is most important to Hollywood’s future, there shouldn’t be.

It’s also crystal clear that Netflix is the king of the streaming wars despite being but one of the many competitors in that space. This is to say nothing of Disney+, Hulu, Max, Paramount+, or Peacock, not to mention smaller services like Shudder. Together, streaming absolutely overshadows the theatrical marketplace.

While revenue doesn’t equal profit, Netflix has, unsurprisingly, become highly profitable of late, having recorded more than $17 billion in profit during the fiscal year ending in September 2024. That’s a 31% increase from the prior year. Meanwhile, many theater chains are struggling just to keep the lights on, with Regal’s parent company Cineworld having gone through bankruptcy in 2022 and AMC, the largest theater chain in the world, currently saddled with billions in debt. There was also the bombshell development last year when Sony Pictures bought the popular Alamo Drafthouse theater chain. That may help the company survive, but it also means a major studio is now directly invested in theaters, which complicates things.

This may help explain why Netflix doesn’t care about releasing its movies in theaters all that much, even if theater owners would welcome Netflix’s movies with open arms (under the right terms). The streamer generally only releases its movies in theaters to either ensure they qualify for awards and/or to satisfy certain filmmakers. It simply does not care about the box office.

That all having been said, the box office is still remarkably important for the future health of the movie business, streaming included. We’ve seen time and time again that movies released in theaters do better on streaming. This is pretty much a universal rule, even if the movie in question is a theatrical flop. For example, Nicolas Cage’s “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” recently climbed onto Netflix’s top 10 charts two and a half years after its theatrical run. So yes, Netflix originals like “Back in Action” will have their moment in the sun, but will they have that same kind of staying power? Even at this very moment, Netflix’s top 10 movie chart is being dominated by the “Despicable Me” films, “Hotel Transylvania 2,” “Trolls Band Together,” and “The Boss Baby.”

So yes, streaming is unquestionably the future of Hollywood and, until something dramatic changes, Netflix is the king of that future. But without a healthy theatrical marketplace, it will be more difficult to keep Hollywood running. Studios need that revenue and, more importantly, movies need the word of mouth afforded to them by a theatrical release. It’s remains a symbiotic relationship, even if there’s a clearly dominant force on one side of the equation.