To paraphrase Marvel fan favorite Loki, 2023 was meant to be burdened with the glorious purpose of reviving cinema. After the pandemic decimated movie theaters and halted production, creating damaging ripple effects that lasted years, 2023 was hoped to be film's forceful return. Unfortunately, due to a number of factors, that didn’t end up happening. This year’s domestic box office tally ($7.1 billion) is still 17% behind 2019 and 22% short of 2018. At the same time, streaming services other than Netflix are finding it difficult to sustain subscriber growth at the moment.
Naturally, all of this puts pressure on the remaining crop of big films set to hit theaters and streamers over the remainder of the year. This chart looks at the 10 most in-demand movies set to be released between October 15 and December 31, according to Parrot Analytics. Martin Scorsese’s star-studded Killers of the Flower Moon is the top upcoming film based on pre-release audience demand and it’s followed by a number of usual suspects.
Five Nights at Freddy’s is a supernatural horror adaptation of a popular video game franchise from Blumhouse, which has a track record of producing overachieving smaller budget box office hits (plus, video game adaptations are enjoying a nice pop culture winning streak at the moment). We have franchise fare in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, The Marvels, Trolls Band Together and a new Hunger Games prequel. Taylor Swift continues to capitalize on her explosive momentum with an Eras Tour movie (currently tracking to open with north of $100 million). Disney hopes to break out of its quasi animated funk with Wish. Ridley Scott’s war epic Napoleon aims to capture adult audiences while Netflix bet big on a two part space epic from Zack Snyder with Rebel Moon.
Will these upcoming movies provide the buzzy boost that the box office and streaming ecosystem appear to desperately need? Based on pre-release audience demand, they’re well positioned to at least help the overall cause.
