Raphael Stevens

Disney generated $1.17 billion at the domestic box office in 2021, the most of any studio in the industry.
The studio’s haul represents around 25% of the total box office in the U.S. and Canada and was boosted by films attached to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Heading into 2022, it’s clear that blockbuster franchise films will continue to draw in audiences.

Simu Liu stars as Shang-Chi in Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”

The Marvel Cinematic Universe propelled Disney to the top of the domestic box office in 2021.
While the pandemic continues to weigh on the movie theater business, cinemas were able to collect $4.58 billion in ticket sales in the United States and Canada, more than double what was garnered in 2020.

A whopping 25.5% of that was generated by Disney, which tallied $1.17 billion from films like “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “Black Widow” and “The Eternals.” The company, which released films from studios, including Disney Animation, 20th Century and Searchlight, had the highest haul of the year.
Sony was a close second, securing $1.05 billion during the year, more than half of which was delivered in the last two weeks of the year from “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” The film, a collaboration between Disney and Sony, is the highest-grossing film of 2021.

“It took a village to build back the box office in a most unusual 2021,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “The major studios showed their confidence in and understanding of the value of a big screen release for their most high-profile titles and were met by enthusiastic moviegoers hungry for the big screen experience.”
Since reopening to the public, movie theaters have had colossal ups and downs in ticket sales. The domestic box office has rebounded from historic lows in 2020, but has yet to reach the consistency seen prior to the pandemic.
Franchise films have always been popular and during the pandemic era they have been the strongest draw for cinemas. In fact, of the top ten highest-grossing films only one, Disney’s “Free Guy,” was not based on existing intellectual property.

In 2021, only 13 films surpassed $100 million, a feat that was usually reached by around 30 movies prior to the pandemic. Still, having more than a dozen movies top this figure is a positive sign for the domestic box office.
“The results were impressive and a much-welcome confidence booster for an resilient industry that will face challenges in 2022,” he said.
While these blockbuster features have rekindled faith in the future of the box office, concerns over new Covid variants as well as lackluster ticket sales for nonfranchise films could mean a slower recovery for the industry.
Since movie theaters reopened, films aimed at older audiences like “House of Gucci,” “The Last Duel” and “West Side Story” have had a hard time drawing large crowds. While adult-pitched films often make less money than major tentpoles, they are still vitally important to the overall box office. Together, these so-called “mid-level” features contribute billions to the total annual haul.
That has led many box office analysts to foresee the 2022 domestic box office topping out around $8 billion instead of the $11 billion that was seen prior to the pandemic.
Looking at the top three highest-grossing studios this year, it’s clear what films and genres were most successful and what we can expect will continue to perform well in 2022.

Disney

Disney’s three highest-grossing films were tied to its Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “Black Widow” and “Eternals” each generated more than $100 million at the domestic box office.
Next year, Disney will release three more high-profile MCU films including “Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness,” “Thor: Love and Thunder” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” If current box office trends persist, these films should be set for strong ticket sales.
Disney’s 2021 domestic box office numbers also show how dual releases in theaters and on Disney+ led to smaller box office hauls for films like “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Cruella.” While these films were released early on the calendar, when audiences were just starting to return to cinemas, it became clear quickly that availability at the home market cut into theatrical revenues.
Additionally, with older audiences remaining tentative about returning to cinemas, “West Side Story” generated just $28 million in ticket sales on a production budget of around $100 million, not including marketing costs. That’s despite a 93% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Families, too, have been slow to return. “Encanto,” which received glowing critical reviews ended the year with around $90 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada.

Sony

Sony generated more than half of its $1.05 billion haul in the last few weeks of 2021, thanks to its collaboration with Disney. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” tallied $572.9 million domestically, the most of any film released in 2021.
The studio also saw success from “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which secured $212 million in the U.S. and Canada and from “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” which garnered $122 million. Like Disney, Sony benefited from beloved franchises drawing audiences back to theaters.
Still, not all of its follow-ups were successful. Smaller budget films based on existing IP like “Don’t Breathe 2,” “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions” and “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City” failed to draw in significant crowds.
Sony also sold off a number of movies to streamers during the last year including “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania,” “Happiest Season,” “Fatherhood,” “Greyhound,” “Cinderella” and “American Pickle.” It’s not guaranteed that any of these films would have generated significant ticket sales for the studio, but they are titles that could have boosted Sony’s overall box office haul for 2021.

Universal

The third-highest grossing studio was Universal, which tallied around $715 million domestically from films like “F9,” “Halloween Kills” and “Sing 2.”
Like Sony and Disney, Universal’s franchise films are well-positioned for success in 2022. The studio is set to release “Jurassic World: Dominion,” “Minions: The Rise of Gru” and a yet untitled animated Mario Bros. film. If families feel more comfortable bringing vaccinated children to theaters, more child-friendly fare could start to rebound for studios.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal owns Rotten Tomatoes.

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Nearly 1 in 5 Americans admit they saved no money at all in 2021, according to a survey by MagnifyMoney.
Saving can be especially difficult for low- and middle-income consumers. Of those making $35,000 or less a year, nearly one-third of respondents said they saved no money at all last year, the survey found. 

The pandemic has been a wake-up call for many Americans to prepare financially for unexpected expenses — from a job loss or medical expenses to a car repair. “Covid did, I think, reveal the need for more emergency savings, particularly for low- and moderate income households,” said Voya Financial senior vice president Jeff Cimini.
A survey by Betterment found nearly half of full-time workers — 46% — who didn’t think they needed an emergency fund before the pandemic say they do now. 
Employers have taken note. They’re offering a number of ways employees can build emergency funds, from savings programs through banks to special accounts alongside traditional retirement plans. Another workplace benefit — health savings accounts, or HSAs — can also be used to cover emergency medical needs. 
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Benefits experts say if employees have access to other savings choices, they’ll be less likely to dip into their 401(k) plans or other retirement savings to cover these expenses. About 2.8% of defined contribution or retirement plan participants made withdrawals in 2020 and the same percentage withdrew funds in the first half of 2021, according to the Investment Company Institute. While that is a relatively small share, it is the greatest percentage of retirement plan withdrawals in more than10 years of ICI survey data. 

In this pandemic, “one of the things that we saw in Voya in our retirement business was a significant increase in employees tapping their long-term retirement savings to meet short-term needs,” Cimini said. Voya Financial began offering a broad set of emergency savings options to its workplace clients in 2020.
Some 26% of defined contribution plan sponsors allow Roth or after-tax contributions in retirement accounts to build “emergency funds”, according to a survey by benefits consulting firm Willis Towers Watson. Another 60% of plan sponsors are interested in offering one of those options, to help employees build savings that can be tapped for short-term needs.
“We’ve seen a lot of activity with our clients in terms of trying to help their employees best navigate this very challenging period,” said David Amendola, a senior director at Willis Towers Watson. “Employers are increasingly starting to adopt and think about different ways to implement these types of emergency savings accounts so that employees can access funds more easily and in a more targeted fashion.” 

There’s a real advantage to putting money in a HSA.

David Amendola
senior director at Willis Towers Watson

HSAs are another financial wellness benefit that employers are offering to help workers build emergency savings. You must have a high deductible health plan (HDHP) to participate. If you do, you can contribute up to $3,650 in a HSA for self-only coverage in 2022, and up to $7,300 for family coverage. If you don’t use the HSA money for immediate health-care expenses, unspent funds can roll over from year to year.
“It’s a way to cover that deductible if you have a lot of expenses in a year,” said Baltimore-based certified financial planner Roger Young of T. Rowe Price. “It’s also a way if you can put away that money long-term to invest — and you get great tax benefits.” More

Richard Branson’s satellite-launching company Virgin Orbit brought a rocket to show off in New York City on Friday, as it celebrated going public.
“There’s a rocket in Times Square, but there happens to be [another] one on an airplane right now,” Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart told CNBC. The company is preparing for a launch next week.
The company uses a modified Boeing 747 aircraft to launch its rockets, a method known as air launch.

Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket on display in Times Square, New York.
CNBC | Michael Sheetz

Richard Branson’s satellite-launching company Virgin Orbit brought a rocket to show off in New York City on Friday, as it celebrated going public.
“There’s a rocket in Times Square; but there happens to be [another] one on an airplane right now … we’re doing stuff and I think, at the end of the day, that’s what matters,” Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart told CNBC. He rang the Nasdaq opening bell on Friday.

Virgin Orbit stock jumped as much as 26% in trading from its previous close of $6.49 a share.
A spin-off of Branson’s space tourism company Virgin Galactic, the company was privately held by conglomerate Virgin Group, with a minority stake from Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala — which together have invested about $1 billion in Virgin Orbit to date. It merged with SPAC (or special purpose acquisition company) NextGen Acquisition Corp. II to go public.

Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart (center, black jacket) stands with company executives in Times Square, New York.
CNBC | Michael Sheetz

The company raised less than anticipated through the SPAC process. While Virgin Orbit previously anticipated the merger would generate about $380 million in SPAC proceeds, the company raised just $68 million — expected to be the result of a high rate of shareholders exercising redemptions.
Virgin Orbit raised further funds through its private investment in public equity (PIPE) round. The company brought in $160 million through the PIPE — instead of just $100 million — from investors including Boeing, AE Industrial Partners, Virgin Group, and Mubadala. That brought Virgin Orbit’s total gross proceeds to $228 million.

The company’s first demonstration launch in May 2020.
Greg Robinson | Virgin Orbit

The company uses a modified Boeing 747 aircraft to launch its rockets, a method known as air launch. Rather than launch rockets from the ground, the company’s aircraft carries its LauncherOne rockets to about 45,000 feet of altitude and drops them just before they fire the engine and accelerate into space – a method the company touts as more flexible than a ground-based system.

Virgin Orbit joins a collection of rocket-builders who went public via SPACs in the past year, including Astra and Rocket Lab.
“I respect anybody who ever launches a satellite in space. It’s not an easy thing to do. But … frankly, almost all the companies out there working on it are recreating things that were done in the 1960s,” Hart said. “We’re a launcher that can launch from any place in the world, from any airport — different economics, different reach into customers.”
Notably, air-based launch is not a new approach to delivering satellites to orbit, as the Pegasus system was developed in the 1990s. Hart called Pegasus “a great idea” that was done at the wrong time, when small satellites lacked capability and meant the rocket was “a curiosity more than a business.” He also emphasized that Pegasus utilized excess intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which are “not cheap” and “never will be.”
“A liquid [fuel] rocket is much less expensive to make, especially with current manufacturing techniques,” Hart said.
While the SPAC process netted Virgin Orbit about $250 million less in gross proceeds than expected, Hart said the company’s focus is now on executing launches. Virgin Orbit aims to launch seven rockets this year, including one as early as next Wednesday. Hart said the company then plans to further build on that momentum into the years ahead.
“We want to get above the 18 launches a year number and then we’ll see how the market is doing,” Hart said.

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The number of New Yorkers in hospitals with Covid-19 is surging, but fewer are in the ICU than previous waves.
About 11% of all Covid patients in New York City hospitals are in the ICU, compared with 17% during prior waves.
The overall volume of patients combined with staffing shortages means that hospitals can still feel pressure from the sharp spike in Covid-positive patients. 

The number of New Yorkers in the hospital with Covid-19 is surging, but fewer of them are ending up in intensive care compared with prior waves — a sign that vaccines and the potentially milder omicron variant are making people less sick.
About 5,900 patients are hospitalized with Covid-19 across New York City, 52% higher than last winter’s peak of nearly 3,900 reached on Feb. 8, state data through Wednesday shows. The 666 patients currently in ICUs with Covid, however, remain below last winter’s high mark of 773.

New York, where cases have been surging to record levels for weeks, has emerged as the epicenter of the country’s omicron wave. Survival rates there are being closely watched as a potential indication of what may happen around the country as the variant, which is now the dominant strain nationwide, takes further hold in other places.
Dr. Adel Bassily-Marcus, an ICU specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, said his unit is operating “close to normal” even as the number of patients testing positive for the virus has significantly risen over the past month. 
“We have an increasing number of ICU patients, but nowhere near what we saw in the first wave,” he said. “It has increased to a lesser extent than the total number of hospitalizations.”
High vaccination rates in the area are keeping people from getting really sick, Bassily-Marcus suggested. The omicron variant itself may also be less virulent than previous strains, he said, helping to keep ICU visits down. Those who do end up in Mount Sinai’s ICU are typically either unvaccinated or have underlying conditions that make them more prone to serious illness, he said.

CNBC Health & Science

Of the more than 1,500 patients with Covid in one of Northwell Health’s 22 hospitals across the greater New York City area, 9% are in the ICU, according to spokeperson Joe Kemp. That figure was at 16% when Northwell was handling a similar number of Covid patients at this time last year.

One reason for the larger disconnect between hospitalized and ICU patients is the rising number of people who, due to the high level of viral transmission in the city, enter a hospital for something other than Covid and test positive once admitted. Kemp said about 40% of Northwell’s 1,500 Covid patients fall into that category. 
At NYU Langone Health, about 65% of the patients with Covid came to the hospital for something else, spokesperson Lisa Greiner told CNBC in an email, adding that the number of patients being admitted to the ICU for Covid is down 58% from January 2021 levels.
About 10% of the 1,000 Covid patients within the 10 campuses of the NewYork-Presbyterian hospital system are in the ICU, spokesperson Maxine Mitchell-Ramsay told CNBC in an email. That compares with 20% of the 700 Covid patients they had at this time last year. Slightly less than half of the system’s current Covid patients were hospitalized for something other than the virus and tested positive in the hospital.
Citywide, the percentage of hospitalized Covid patients in ICUs is about 11%, according to a CNBC analysis of state data. During prior waves, it never fell below 17%.

Hospitals can still feel pressure from the sharp spike in Covid-positive patients despite the fact that some are less sick than before. 
“Even if you’re having a lot of people that don’t require ICU-level care, it still does stress the system,” said Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, a professor of health policy and management at the City University of New York School of Public Health. Hospitals still need to isolate these patients so they don’t infect others, and an increase in the overall volume of hospitalized people means an already exhausted workforce is being stretched even further.
Many hospital workers are also being forced to quarantine after getting Covid themselves. Kemp said that about 3% of Northwell’s 78,000-person workforce is currently out sick, but that the system has managed by redeploying staff across departments and calling on workers from an internal temp agency. Bassily-Marcus said that staffing challenges at Mount Sinai are more significant than during earlier waves because of omicron’s infectiousness.
“We are managing it because we are used to it,” he said. “We know how to deal with staff shortages.”
The combination of staffing shortages and the rising overall patient level is “something for us to take seriously,” New York City Health Commissioner Dave Chokshi said at a news conference at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens on Wednesday, even if those in ICU are making up a smaller share of the total.
“What we know is that Covid-19 hospitalizations are increasing.” he said. “The degree of severity is somewhat less than what we have seen in prior waves, but we are seeing ICU hospitalizations increase as well.”

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Over the past 28 days, the U.S. and the U.K. have recorded the highest number of new cases of the virus in the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
However, there are a handful of countries with a higher prevalence of Covid-19 than the U.K. and the U.S. Among them are Ireland, Greece and Denmark.
Omicron is now the dominant variant of Covid-19 in all three countries.

Tourists visit the Acropolis archaeological site in Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022.
Nick Paleologos | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The emergence of the highly transmissible omicron variant has seen cases of Covid-19 surge in countries all over the world.
Over the past 28 days, the U.S. and the U.K. have recorded the highest number of new cases of the virus in the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

However, there are a handful of countries with a higher prevalence of Covid-19 than the U.K. and the U.S., which recorded 2,664 and 1,810 cases per million people respectively for the week to Jan. 6, figures from Our World in Data show.
Among those countries are Ireland, Greece and Denmark.

Ireland

In the week ending Jan. 6, Ireland had a seven-day average of 4,020 cases of Covid-19 per million people, according to Our World in Data. There were 23,817 new cases confirmed in the country on Thursday, according to official government data, marking the highest daily figure to date.

In the week to Jan. 5, 40 deaths were caused by the virus in Ireland. Despite cases reaching record highs over the past week, Ireland’s fatalities from the coronavirus are a far cry from the peak of 220 deaths in April 2020. However, hospitalizations and deaths are both on the rise as cases continue to surge.
Government figures show that 2.3 million booster doses had been administered by Thursday, meaning 55% of the eligible population has received three shots of a Covid vaccine. Meanwhile, 77% of the population is fully vaccinated with the initial two doses.

Irish health officials announced on Thursday that the government would not be implementing further restrictions to mitigate rising case numbers. The country currently has a handful of measures in place, including mask mandates, restrictions on large indoor events and limiting in-home gatherings to no more than three households.
Back in December, Irish health officials revealed that the omicron strain was now the country’s dominant variant of Covid-19.
The Irish government said in a statement on Wednesday that the epidemiological situation “continues to give rise to significant concern,” but that the “rapid pace of the vaccination program has been central in offsetting the impact of the Omicron wave of the disease.”

Greece

Greece also has a high prevalence of the virus, recording a rolling 7-day average of 3,468 cases per million people in the week ending Jan. 6.
On Tuesday, the country reported a record 50,126 new daily cases and 61 deaths, official figures show. By Thursday, that figure had declined slightly to 33,716, while daily deaths rose to 70.
In Greece, 66.3% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
In an interview with a local radio station on Friday, Greek Health Minister Thanos Plevris said provisional data showed no patients with confirmed omicron had been intubated in hospital so far.
He added that steps were being taken to ensure that Athens had enough hospital beds as the omicron variant increased pressure on hospitals in the Greek capital.
His comments came after officials announced in a press briefing on Wednesday that more than 90% of cases in Greece were now the new, highly transmissible omicron variant.
Although Plevris said on Friday that omicron provisionally seemed milder than previous variants, he cautioned: “When we say that omicron is milder than delta, it does not mean that it is mild.”
Thursday’s data showed that 593 Covid-19 patients had been admitted to Greek hospitals over the previous 24 hours.

Denmark

Elsewhere, Denmark recorded a 7-day average of 3,334 Covid cases per million people in the week to Jan. 6, Our World in Data’s numbers showed.
On Friday, Denmark recorded a provisional 18,261 new positive test results for the past 24 hours. A total of 755 Covid-19 patients had been admitted to hospital, according to official data – one fewer admission from the day before.
Ten new deaths from the coronavirus were reported in Denmark on Friday.
Almost 80% of the Danish population has received two doses of a Covid vaccine, with more than half immunized with a booster dose.
On Friday, Danish authorities said omicron now accounted for 90% of Covid-19 cases in Denmark.
It came after Danish health official Tyra Grove Krause told local media this week that omicron could help the population return to normal life within months.

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