The impact of COVID-19 has been shared globally, bringing with it a steep decline in the box office in every territory. Even in those territories which have done relatively well in managing the spread of the virus, the global studio releases have been choked off, limiting the availability of the product that draws movie-goers to theatres. The North American box office came in at $2.3B, down a whopping 80% from the $11.4B generated in 2019. For the first time, the take for the Domestic market came in below that of China, which earned $2.7B in 2020, largely on the strength of local productions such as the patriotic WWII epic The Eight Hundred, which earned $440M. The Chinese market was only off by 70% from its 2019 level, relative success in a very bad year.
See also: France, Europe’s Largest Cinema Market, Drops 70% in 2020 (Variety)