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Despite the success of its predecessor —Joker triumphed both critically and with audiences, becoming the fifth highest-grossing film in Warner Bros. history— and the anticipation built over months, Joker: Folie à Deux has become a complete failure for the company, which decided to pull it from theaters just two weeks after its release and announce its digital release. Specifically, it has generated losses of *** million U.S. dollars, making it the second least profitable film in cinema history, only behind The Marvels.

Warner Bros in numbers

However, this poor result has not caused Warner Bros. to lose its crown, as it remains the highest-grossing production company in the film industry. In fact, its feature films have collectively grossed more than **** billion U.S. dollars to date. Among the titles contributing to this are the Harry Potter saga and not only the biggest success of 2023 but also, in just over a month and a half, the most successful comedy film ever: Barbie. Indeed, the strong performance of Greta Gerwig’s film was a key factor in closing its last fiscal year with revenues close to **** billion U.S. dollars. That said, theatrical releases are by no means Warner Bros. Discovery’s main source of income, the media group to which it belongs. That honor goes to its television channels which, excluding streaming platforms, generated around **** billion U.S. dollars for the company in 2023.

The current state of global cinema

But beyond the financial performance of this and other major studios like Walt Disney and Universal, what is the current situation of the industry? The reality is that after a bleak 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic —when revenues dropped drastically to a historic low— the following three years were marked by gradual recovery. Thus, in 2023, although pre-pandemic figures were not yet reached, ticket sales worldwide were *** percent higher than in 2020, closing near ** billion U.S. dollars. After all, in the European Union alone, cinema attendance in 2023 increased by nearly *** million people compared to 2022 and more than doubled that of 2020, reaching around *** ³¾¾±±ô±ô¾±´Ç²Ô.Ìý