LOS ANGELES, March 11 (Reuters) - The movie industry

celebrated "Oppenheimer" and other successes at the Oscars on

Sunday, but the coming months at the box office will likely

offer less to cheer about.

Strikes by actors and writers last year forced filming and

post-production work to shut down for months, leaving gaps in

this year's movie schedule.

Industry executives and analysts say the release calendar

for April lacks an obvious blockbuster on a par with last year's

box office hit, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie." The summer box

office will likely rebound, buoyed by such releases as "Inside

Out 2" and a third "Deadpool" movie, though the Christmas

cinematic offerings look sparse.

"I think '24 is going to be probably one of the worst of the

last three years globally," said Tim Richards, CEO of Europe's

Vue cinema chain.

So far this year, ticket sales in the United States and

Canada have been tracking 9.8% behind 2023, according to

Comscore. Analyst B. Riley Securities forecasts domestic box

office revenues would fall to $8.5 billion this year, a decline

of 5% from 2023.

At Walt Disney ( DIS ), CEO Bob Iger recently spoke about

the studio's renewed emphasis on quality over quantity. The

company has 10 movies on its release schedule this year.

Disney's ( DIS ) Marvel Studios, which had been releasing two to

three movies per year, has just one set for 2024. "Deadpool &

Wolverine" will hit theaters in July.

Comcast Corp's ( CMCSA ) Universal Pictures plans a dozen

releases, including the fourth installment in Illumination's

$2.6 billion animated film franchise, "Despicable Me."

It is possible other films could be announced when theater

operators gather in April at the annual CinemaCon convention in

Las Vegas.

"I think it's going to be a catch-up game," Box Office Pro

senior analyst Shawn Robbins said of 2024. The industry is still

trying to claw back to the pre-pandemic record of close to $11.9

billion set in 2018.

Not everyone is convinced of the box office's downward

trajectory.

"The outlook by the prognosticators is overly negative,"

said IMAX ( IMAX ) CEO Richard Gelfond. "I think that if you

line up the '23 slate against the '24 slate, it looks very

similar to me."

Gelfond said he sees a number of films with strong box

office potential, including "Deadpool & Wolverine," "Despicable

Me 4," "Joker: Foile a Deux" and "Wicked."

Richards said European theaters would benefit this year from

locally made films.

"We've seen some record-breaking films in Italy. We've seen

the same thing in Poland and Germany and even the Netherlands.

But it's not enough to compensate for what's missing from

Hollywood," Richards said.

Cinema operators and studios are optimistic about 2025, when

many strike-delayed films will be ready. Richards noted that

Apple TV+ and Amazon ( AMZN ) have made major

commitments to theatrical films alongside the traditional

studios.

"It's looking like it's going to be a very interesting '25

and '26," Richards said.