Episode summary
Hollywood Box Offices Are Back | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 12 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Lucas Shaw
Summary
Hollywood’s box office rebound is being driven by a stronger movie slate, a better theatrical window, and a willingness to offer audiences something that feels fresh rather than recycled. Lucas Shaw says the biggest wins this year have come from high-caliber summer blockbusters, new titles that have not been overexposed, and movies that give people a reason to leave home for the theater instead of waiting for streaming.
The recovery is real but incomplete. Shaw says revenue is still down about 10% to 15% from before the pandemic, while ticket sales remain below prior levels by even more, but higher ticket prices and premium formats like IMAX are helping close the gap. He argues that “being a film nerd is cool again,” with younger viewers showing up for event movies like Minecraft and for filmmakers such as Christopher Nolan and Ryan Coogler.
Shaw is skeptical that Hollywood can simply copy the latest trend. He says three YouTube-adjacent films hitting in the same year looks like a signal, but the real lesson is to pair online-native talent with studio scale and freedom. He also says audiences still want stories with some emotional lift, not relentlessly bleak endings. The conversation ends with a quick look at the Lakers purchase by Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, which Shaw calls surprising and strategically odd.
Key takeaways
- Lucas Shaw says the 2026 box office rebound is being driven by a strong slate, especially movies that feel fresh and distinct.
- He says U.S. revenue is still about 10% to 15% below pre-pandemic levels, even though higher ticket prices and IMAX are helping.
- Shaw argues that younger audiences did not abandon theaters; they are showing up for the right kinds of event movies.
- He says Hollywood should not chase every YouTube hit, but the best model is to combine online-native talent with studio infrastructure.
- Shaw thinks audiences are tired of relentlessly dark stories and still want some emotional payoff at the end.
Notable quotes
“the good slate of movies uh things that people were very excited about”
“the sales are off I want to say 10 15%”
“being a film nerd is cool again”
“you had three YouTube adjacent films in a row”
“they don't want to walk out of the theater constantly feeling depressed”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. — You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Tim Stenc on Bloomberg Radio. He's a Hollywood machine. — He is his own Hollywood machine.
He's the individual behind our Screen Time World, behind the Screen Time newsletter. You can sign up for that at bloomberg.com/screentime. We're talking about Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg News, managing editor of media and entertainment.
He joins us from our Bloomberg LA situation. Lucas, it's like always sunny and nice out there. So, I know you come to New York sometimes, but LA is home.
But we appreciate you joining us. Um, I want to talk about people going back to the movies this year because this something something interesting is happening. You wrote about this recently and I'm and I'm wondering one why people in your view are are going back to the movies and two whether or not this is sustainable.
Uh first one is tricky to answer. You know the good slate of movies uh things that people were very excited about. So you had probably highest volume of high caliber summer blockbusters in a long time.
you know, we tried to capture the lessons from those in an essay for business week. And it's everything from having an appropriate window delay before or lay between when a movie appears in theaters and when it's available at home. Um to bringing something fresh and different to the table, which sounds trit and obvious, but Hollywood has been in this pattern of releasing cinematic universes for the last 10 years.
And you look at what a lot of the things a lot of things that worked this year are either new movies that haven't been around in five or six years, something that felt fresh.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- hollywood box office
- movie ticket sales
- billion dollar releases
- upcoming movie releases
- media entertainment
Watch the episode
Watch “Hollywood Box Offices Are Back | Bloomberg Businessweek” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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