The box office has changed drastically over the last 20 years, and a direct comparison of the 2003 movies and 2023 movies reveals some fascinating insights about Hollywood's past, present, and future. How well a movie performs at the box office has always been an important part of the narrative behind whether a film is successful. The discussion around box office results has evolved a lot during the last two decades.
Instead of audiences not having much of an invested interest in whether a movie was going to be a hit or a flop, there are now increased discussions on a weekly basis about how various theatrically released movies perform. There are still some similarities between the box office in 2003 and 2023, though. Some of the same franchises are still finding success, but others, like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, had yet to even begin. The same is true of franchises, as their popularity is one constant between the two decades of Hollywood's histor