A statistical breakdown of the global film industry

Visualizing Hollywood's flops and winners in 2023

Is the movie worth watching? See how this year's cinematic releases compare with one another by revenue and popularity with this simple chart. Hollywood movies can be ranked on two axes: their popular rating and total revenues earned. In this data...

The film industry is responsible for more than 200K jobs in California

Hollywood films generate roughly $49B for the US economy each year. In California, the film industry provides more than 200,000 jobs. Industry employees were paid more than $42B in wages in 2022.

Disney movies grossed $6.58B in 2025

The worldwide box office figure was $1.5B higher than 2025's take, propelled by movies like "Zootopia 2," "Lilo & Stitch," and "Avatar: Fire and Ash." The haul was the biggest from a studio since 2019.

Hollywood, explained

It all began in 1887 when Hollywood was registered as a small town before merging with Los Angeles in 1910. Filmmakers moved west to avoid Thomas Edison’s patent lawsuits, and the sunny California climate provided the perfect setting for year-round production. By the 1910s, studios like Paramount and Warner Bros. established themselves, and Hollywood's global dominance was cemented during its golden age from the 1930s to the 1950s.

Defining an indie film

Indie movies have a definite history, but the use of the word by contemporary audiences can be vague. This brief explainer goes into a few tiers of indie film and a quick historical overview.

Film festivals are where independent projects find studios

Film festivals are incubators for the movie industry, providing smaller films and their producers with opportunities to screen in front of live audiences, as well as potential investors who may offer wider distribution.

The 100 greatest cinemas in the world

Sure, it's convenient to stream a movie at home, but we believe there's no better way to see a great film than at a great theater. This extensive list explores the best of the best, featuring profiles of a Pennsylvania drive-in, an Icelandic arthouse, and many other amazing venues.

In recent years, Hollywood studios have reevaluated their Comic‑Con presence

Comic-Con’s impact on the movie industry may be diminishing. In 2025, major studios—including Marvel, DC, Lucasfilm, Sony, Paramount, Legendary, and Lionsgate—scaled back Comic‑Con participation. They cited high costs, timing that didn’t align with release schedules, and limited marketing impact in a crowded promotional landscape.

Netflix is the dominant streaming service

As of 2025, Netflix had amassed more than 300 million subscribers globally and saw quarterly revenue over $11B.

Infographics explaining global terrorism trends

Our World in Data’s terrorism page details global trends in terrorism. Through interactive infographics, the site shows how the number of terrorist acts varies around the world and how it has changed over time. Sections investigate common definitions of terrorism, trends in global terrorism deaths, and the global distribution of terrorism. Additional segments highlight airline hijackings, public opinion, and media coverage of terrorism. Explore this website for an array of infographics on terrorism.

Why does the stock market matter?

Open any newspaper, turn on your local TV news station, or listen to a daily business radio segment, and you’re bound to hear about how the stock market is performing. Netflix created a 17-minute (free) explainer that dives deep into the nitty-gritty of how we got here.

'Special effects' have evolved alongside Hollywood

Since the early days of moviemaking, directors have played with perspective to create incredible effects on the screen. From Buster Keaton to contemporary CGI, this 30-minute documentary details the amazing evolution of Hollywood's special effects.

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

Hollywood movies' ratings are controlled by the Motion Picture Association

The board, established by a board of parents, has provided ratings (like G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17) for Hollywood films since 1968. Although the MPA provides specific criteria for rating films, many of the characteristics (such as "snippets of language that go beyond polite conversation") are subjective.

Inclusivity at the Oscars

The push for more diversity in the film industry has been decades in the making, but questions are raised about the efficacy of the tactics put in place to bring about those needed changes. The Hollywood Reporter explores the new diversity requirements for Oscars eligibility, speaking to filmmakers and producers about the importance of inclusivity and the complications that such requirements can cause.

American beer, by the numbers

This statistics-focused resource breaks down the shape of the beer industry in the US, outlining the amount of beer produced by American breweries, the state cranking out the most beer, and the states with the most breweries per capita.

A catalog of every film with a post-credits scene

A crowd-maintained database spanning film, TV, and games, the site flags whether any given title has a "stinger"—hidden sequel teasers, outtakes, or jokes. "Stinger" is the fan shorthand; you'll also hear "credit cookie" or "post-credits scene."

View US solar energy industry trends and trajectories, tracked by SEIA

The Solar Energy Industries Association provides charts summarizing the state of solar energy in the US, including cumulative solar installations, solar jobs, photovoltaic pricing and deployment, and inflation and supply chain constraints within the market.

Forecasting worldwide 5G adoption and economics

A collection of 10 regional reports from the world on all things 5G, including key trends and a range of technology, socioeconomic, and financial datasets, including forecasts out to 2025. Data charts and graphics included.

How Japanese Anime became a global phenomenon

Anime's popularity was once confined to Japan, but the art form has attracted a global audience in the 2020s due in large part to its availability on streaming and increased watch times during the COVID-19 pandemic. This Hollywood Reporter article explains how other factors—including several influential celebrities who consider themselves anime aficionados—have made the genre an international sensation.

A video introduction to demography

The Big Think’s video provides a thorough introduction to the field of demography. Demography provides the tools to address and understand many of the world’s problems. It uses quantitative data and mathematical models to analyze populations....

There are currently over 6,500 active coasters in the world

See a database including every country from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe to see stats about their coaster count, and compare it to their populations and square footage.

The latest data on US motherhood

Here’s a snapshot of what motherhood looks like in the U.S. today, drawn from government data and Pew Research Center surveys. The list includes seven headline statistics with visual graphs, including the average age of a mother's first childbirth...

The plasma-selling industry is expected to reach $50B by the end of the decade

About 55% of your blood volume is plasma, the liquid part of blood created from water, proteins, minerals, and salts absorbed through the digestive tract. This 49-minute podcast episode explores the business of plasma—part of a global industry expected to be worth $50B by 2029.

Visualizing the 75 largest underwater animals

With so many fish in the sea, which are the largest? This infographic shows fantastic illustrations of the 75 largest sea animals, ranked by average size. The detailed visual is organized in descending order of size, starting with the blue whale,...

Explore this animated story about loneliness that situates modern statistics about isolation

This beautiful "scrollytelling" story—weaving together animations and text as a user scrolls down a page—takes a reader through a typical weekend day in 2021, drawing data from the American Time Use Survey. It underscores the loneliness that many people may experience, highlighting potential unaddressed mental health needs.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

The distributor behind 'Rocky Horror' pulled the film from its scheduled national release, believing it would be a failure, though it eventually amassed a dedicated fanbase through midnight showings, a trend that continues over 50 years later.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by more than 1.5 million Muslims each year.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Watch how viruses like Ebola can spill over from animals to humans—and vice-versa.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day