system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is it called “box office” when movies get return profits after being released?

Obligatory not a native English speaker.

So what do these profits have in common with a box or an office? Why is the expression used and what are its origins?

Edit: Thanks for the replies everyone, the concept is now clear to me. 🙂
gpt
The "box office" is the place at a movie theater where tickets are bought/reserved. Like when you go up to the cinema and tell the person you want 2 tickets to the midnight showing of whatever - that room where they sit is the "box office".

"Box office revenue" or "earnings" or "profits" just refers to how much money a movie makes specifically while in movie theaters - it's how much they've made through ticket sales *at the box office*. Afterwards when the movie comes out on Blu-Ray and DVD you start talking about how much money a made *overall*.