Written by Prakriti Panwar, a first-year undergraduate student

What it means

The term ‘box office’ often refers to the income from the sales of the tickets of a particular movie.

For instance, newspapers often say that “XYZ movie did extremely well at the box office” or “ABC film surpassed $100 million at the box office.”

But where does this term ‘box office’ originate from?

In the olden days in Europe, people from the upper classes would watch plays from private boxes situated in the balcony of the theater.

Such tickets were sold at a separate office near the theater and this office came to be known as the box office.

In contrast, the general public was allotted seats on the ground level, which was known as the ‘pit’

Another theory for the origins of this term literally refers to the ‘box’ used to collect money upon the sales of tickets.

Nowadays, in North America, the box office is divided into two parts: the domestic box office and the foreign box office. The earnings received from films released in the United States and Canada are a part of the domestic box office, while the earnings collected from films released abroad are a part of the foreign box office.

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