2014 Movie Box Office Attendance Lowest In Nearly Two Decades

Movie theaters saw the lowest attendance in two decades, making 2014 one of Hollywood’s worst years in recent memory.

Estimates show that around 1.26 billion people purchased movie tickets in 2014, which is the lowest box office attendance since 1995, when only 1.21 billion people purchased movie tickets. Comparatively, 2013 saw 1.34 billion people purchase movie tickets, making for a 6 percent year-over-year decline for movie theaters.

As for total revenue earned, The Hollywood Reporter says that estimates see 2014 earning $10.36 billion (the official numbers will come later, when the National Association of Theater Owners determines the average ticket price of 2014). That’s a five percent decrease from 2013’s revenue, making for the largest year-over-year decline at the box office in nine years.

Many industry experts blame the box office slump on the 2014 blockbusters that failed to meet commercial expectations, such as Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The highest-grossing films of the year were Guardians of the Galaxy, which earned about $332 million in the U.S., and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1, which earned about $306 million in the U.S.

But with guaranteed successes like Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, and more headlining 2015’s offerings, it’s safe to assume that the new year will be a far more successful one for Hollywood.