Spanish movie theaters had collected until the beginning of this month €288.04 million, according to ComScore data consulted by EL ESPAÑOL-Invertia. These figures already included the beginning of the ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ flip, both released on July 20. Four weeks after their arrival, the billboards accumulate a collection of 26.94 and 14.85 million euros, respectively.
The collection figure of Spanish cinemas exceeds in less than eight months the total obtained in 2020 (174.15 million) and in 2021 (253.06 million), years marked by the pandemic. However, it still seems unlikely that the two big 2023 releases will boost earnings enough to reach the box office data for 2019, with 628.07 million euros.
The collection so far this year barely exceeds 45% of 2019, so it is difficult to touch the figure for that year in the few more than four months left before the end of the year. However, the 2023 box office already accounts for more than 76% of the 376.81 million in 2022.
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ComScore sources specify to this newspaper that 2019 “was a record year in attendance both in Spain and internationally”. The box office successes in our country that year were ‘The Lion King’, with a collection of 37.21 million euros and close to 6.4 million viewers; ‘Joker’, with 30.098 million euros and more than 5.11 million attendees, and ‘Avengers: Endgame’, in third place on the podium with 29.21 million raised and more than 4.59 million viewers.
Hence, the comparisons, with a pandemic involved, are more modest. Even so, from the company they insist that “the film market is experiencing a slow but solid recovery“.
“good situation”
The general director of the Federation of Cinemas of Spain (FECE), Luis García, shares the same vision of the sector. “Can we talk about a good situation in general termstaking into account that each year the sector is recovering with greater intensity compared to the previous one and to the pre-pandemic figures,” he points out.
This is how it is happening. After the 72% collapse suffered in 2020, the collection of Spanish movie theaters increased by 45.31% in 2021 compared to the previous year, and 48.89% in 2022 compared to the previous year.
Movie tickets. Fernando Sánchez Europa Press
“We will reach pre-pandemic figures again, possibly sooner than expectedif the sector continues to evolve in this way”, affirms García with optimism.
The end of 2023 remains to be seen, but the pace is positive thanks to “great releases that are essential for keep industry strong“, as the general director of FECE points out. Although he warns: “We cannot depend only on those titles. We need a strong European and Spanish cinema, which guarantees the diversity of our billboard”.
Less spectators
The evolution of viewers has been somewhat slower than collection. In 2019, that record year for the sector, 105.94 million tickets were sold to Spanish cinemas.
The pandemic contracted that number by 266.8%, to 28.87 million viewers in 2020. In 2021, still with some restrictions, attendees exceeded 41 million, with a growth of 30.4%.
In 2022, “new obstacles” appearedas García recalls, with the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis, which generated “a notable increase in costs for cinemas”.
At the same time, inflation in cinemas, theaters and concerts closed the year with an increase of 3.5%, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Film Festival at the Embajadores Cinemas. Fernando Sánchez Europa Press
In an uncertain context, the Spanish thought about going to movie theaters. The number of viewers last year stood at 59.99 million, 30.8% more than in 2021. The highest-grossing film of 2022, ‘Avatar: the sense of water’achieved just over 3.2 million viewers and a collection of around 21.3 million euros.
In the first eight months of 2023, 44.23 million viewers have already passed through Spanish cinemas. This represents more than 73% of the total number of attendees in 2022.
The general director of FECE values actions such as the youth cultural bonus and the 2-euro cinema for retirees due to their mobilizing effect. “They are very positive for the recovery of the sector,” he admits.
Apart from these initiatives, García appreciates “a communication problem” when it comes to “letting viewers know what movies are on the billboard.” “When a film has a great communication campaign, people flock to see it in the cinema. A clear example is the phenomenon that we are experiencing now with Barbenheimer“, he argues.
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In these years, a change has also been observed in Spanish cinemas. There are more cinemas but fewer seats.
The 25th Edition of the Census of Movie Theaters of the Association for Communication Media Research (AIMC) estimated the number of cinemas in Spain at 751 in May, its highest level since 2012.
The number of rooms and screens remains at similar figures to those of 2019, with a total of 3,591. However, compared to 2022, 8,044 seats have been lost, which leaves the total figure at 750,751. This reduction has been observed since 2015. In eight years, 47,501 seats have disappeared in Spanish cinemas, according to AIMC.
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2023-08-21 01:23:10
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