For the past few weeks, Pollstar’s intrepid investigators, number crunches and numerologists have been intensely studying box office figures accrued during the first six months of 2014. After the data was processed by their new quantum-enhanced Colossus computer, a clear picture of ticket amounts, prices and box office final results emerged. (Did you smell the spewing smoke and hear the grinding gears?)
A total gross of $131.5 million puts One Direction ahead of The Rolling Stones, Justin Timberlake, Bruce Springsteen and others on the Top 100 Worldwide Tours for the first half of the year. Playing 31 shows in 17 cities, the boy band sold 1,630,502 tickets at an average price of $80.65. But not all tours are equal when studying box office results. Some acts play more shows while others play far fewer gigs but charge more money for tickets. Many variables come into play when building the statistical charts that will be studied, cited and quoted during the decades ahead.
For instance, The Rolling Stones played 16 shows in 14 cities and sold 651,816 tickets total at an average price of $176.65 resulting in a final gross of $115.1 million. If Mick and the boys had played a few more shows during the first six months of the year, the band just might have claimed the No. 1 spot on our chart. On the other hand, Justin Timberlake played 55 shows in 44 cities and sold more tickets than The Stones but fewer than One Direction. The former *NSYNC member’s $110.2 million total gross put him in the No. 3 position.
So where does Cirque du Soleil sit on the worldwide charts this time? Much lower – 15th, 16th, 25th, 27th, 32nd, 33rd, 35th, and 53rd. Here’s how it breaks down…
- QUIDAM grossed $33.1 million for 15th place. With an average ticket price of $95.86, the production played 152 shows in 20 cities, sold a total of 345,747 tickets and achieved an average gross of $1,657,249 per show.
- DRALION grossed $31.7 million for 16th place. With an average ticket price of $95.86, the production played 136 shows in 20 cities, sold a total of 428,267 tickets and achieved an average gross of $1,593.327 per show.
- MJ IMMORTAL grossed $22.0 million for 25th place. With an average ticket price of $96.57, the production played 77 shows in 28 cities, sold a total of 227,814 tickets and achieved an average gross of $785,714 per show.
- CORTEO grossed $21.3 million for 27th place. With an average ticket price of $87.49, the production played 159 shows in 13 cities, sold a total of 243,891 tickets and achieved an average gross of $1,651,298 per show.
- TOTEM grossed $20.2 million for 32nd place. With an average ticket price of $92.20, the production played 109 shows in 15 cities, sold a total of 219,385 tickets and achieved an average gross of $1,348,533 per show.
- KOOZA grossed $19.5 million for 33rd place. With an average ticket price of $98.20, the production played 124 shows in 13 cities, sold a total of 198,967 tickets and achieved an average gross of $1,503,004 per show.
- VAREKAI grossed $18.6 million for 35th place. With an average ticket price of $67.12, the production played 147 shows in 21 cities, sold a total of 276,741 tickets and achieved an average gross of $884,490 per show.
- AMALUNA grossed $14.0 million for 53rd place. With an average ticket price of $90.37, the production played 82 shows in 10 cities, sold a total of 154,959 tickets and achieved an average gross of $1,400,439 per show.
In reviewing these numbers we find Cirque du Soleil’s world-wide tour earnings down considerably from this period (first 6 months of 2014) over the same period last year. Cirque grossed a total of $266.3 million in the first 6 months of 2013 without MJ Immortal’s nearly $80 million dollars in ticket grosses added in (we removed them as Cirque must share this revenue with the Michael Jackson estate); however, this year, Cirque du Soleil earned only $158.4 million without MJ Immortal’s grosses. That’s a 40% drop in overall revenue! There is one thing to note though: where is OVO? It is surprising that OVO did not make the list; however, its tour throughout Japan may have made reporting grosses impossible (or that data was just not provided.)
In either case, very interesting results so far in 2014!
For comparison, below are Mid-Year and Year-End charts for 2012 and 2013:
Rank Gross Tour Name AVG Tix AVG Tix Total AVG Gross Cities
in Mil Price Sold Tix Sold / Shows
============================================================================
/// 2012 MID-YEAR
3 78.5 MJ Immortal $111.48 15,300 703,793 $1,705,560 46 / 95
10 38.0 Alegria $72.23 25,062 526,303 $1,810,146 21 / 153
17 25.0 Varekai $103.58 21,899 240,886 $2,268,305 11 / 141
24 21.9 Dralion $62.58 15,214 349,931 $952,130 23 / 163
32 19.1 Ovo $74.26 1,814 257,634 $134,728 2 / 142
41 16.4 Totem $82.05 1,964 200,280 $161,100 1 / 102
43 16.2 Quidam $60.80 11,583 266,404 $704,234 23 / 151
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215.1 Million Gross 2,545,231 Tickets Sold
/// 2012 FULL YEAR
6 140.2 MJ Immortal $104.44 7,805 1,342,397 $815,116 74 / 172
16 47.8 Varekai $106.55 1,818 449,066 $193,712 8 / 247
20 42.5 Alegria $71.67 3,597 593,425 $257,752 23 / 165
25 39.7 Dralion $60.69 2,179 653,838 $132,277 42 / 300
26 39.4 OVO $96.53 1,846 407,970 $178,198 3 / 221
30 36.5 Amaluna $90.44 1,901 401,006 $171,885 4 / 211
41 31.4 Totem $81.09 1,987 387,469 $161,128 4 / 195
46 30.4 Zarkana $72.44 3,473 420,180 $251,541 1 / 121
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407.9 Million Gross 4,655,351 Tickets Sold
Rank Gross Tour Name AVG Tix AVG Tix Total AVG Gross Cities
in Mil Price Sold Tix Sold / Shows
============================================================================
/// 2013 MID-YEAR
4 79.3 MJ Immortal $116.53 34,160 683,196 $3,980,577 20 / 88
14 45.3 Ovo $132.24 2,062 342,315 $272,706 3 / 166
15 44.8 Corteo $107.87 1,745 415,233 $188,193 1 / 238
18 33.3 Kooza $97.19 2,102 342,678 $204,324 3 / 163
19 31.1 Varekai $65.84 2,426 473,099 $159,733 3 / 195
26 28.0 Dralion $87.71 3,475 319,701 $304,784 6 / 92
27 27.7 Totem $91.33 1,997 303,487 $182,351 3 / 151
28 26.0 Amaluna $88.48 2,163 294,230 $191,432 4 / 136
49 15.8 Quidam $59.01 2,170 267,748 $718,134 22 / 134
58 14.3 Alegria $82.83 2,614 175,556 $216,552 9 / 66
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345.6 Million Gross 3,617,243 Tickets Sold
/// 2013 FULL YEAR
7 133.4 MJ Immortal $113.04 34,709 1,180,113 $3,923,529 34 / 168
20 61.7 Corteo $103.39 1,538 596,764 $159,024 1 / 388
22 59.2 Alegria $74.63 3,055 794,214 $227,969 9 / 260
23 57.0 Varekai $74.25 2,025 767,542 $150,366 3 / 379
24 56.7 Kooza $103.21 1,948 549,413 $201,085 3 / 282
30 49.9 Ovo $132.92 2,073 375,129 $275,472 3 / 181
31 49.1 Totem $89.76 1,807 547,546 $162,209 45 / 303
32 48.4 Quidam $70.09 15,349 690,706 $1,075,888 45 / 290
39 43.8 Amaluna $88.88 2,037 492,852 $181,018 4 / 42
49 35.5 Dralion $69.59 3,014 515,428 $206,758 6 / 171
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594.7 Million Gross 6,509,707 Tickets Sold
The summary article can be found here:
< http://goo.gl/DeQPvS >.
The Worldwide Top 100 midyear 2014 chart is here:
< http://goo.gl/Kr3OtV >
And the North American Top 100 midyear 2014 chart is here:
< http://goo.gl/DBR7lQ >
