2023 will go down as a tricky year for the entertainment industry overall- but there’s one positive among all the turmoil. While it hasn’t quite come as or when we expected, there have been great strides towards finally boosting theatrical release and box office figures over those coveted 2019 benchmarks. As the Cinemark group announces July 2023 its best month ever in the group’s history, we’ve also seen overall figures for the Q3 box office beat its 2019 figures. Brandon Blake, our entertainment attorney on the ground from Blake & Wang P.A. has the full story.
A Fantastic Bounce Back- For Now
Cinemark released Q3 profits of $91.2 million. A hefty step away from the $23.9 million loss of the previous year! This includes a revenue jump of 35%, a third-quarter record of $875 million, their strongest month of all time, and overall positive box office trends. Plus, Q3 finally managed to beat the pre-pandemic 2019 baselines, and by a staggering 6%.
Great news- but let's step back and remember that most of this is built on the back of the amazing dual release of Barbie and Oppenheimer in cinemas. A phenomenon that likely won’t be repeated anytime soon.
Not Over Yet
Of great interest, however, is how small the patron gap was to achieve all of this. July 2023 saw Cinemark host 37.5 million patrons. The equivalent 2022 stat is 29.5 million. While ‘Barbenheimer’ may not be repeatable, those benchmarks could be, especially as we see several of the tech-giant streamers look to theatrical release models to boost the profiles and profitability of their films.
It’s a pity, in this buoyant atmosphere, that 2024 and 2025 pipelines are likely to see more disruptions, this time due to the ongoing strike action in Hollywood rather than a pandemic. If the last few years have taught us anything, it's that reliable fresh content is key to keeping cinemagoers engaged.
However, let’s celebrate the victories as they come, too. While 2023 is unlikely to be the year we see a full box office recovery, this is a massive step towards that goal, and well worth celebrating.
