Blockbusters lure film buffs back to nation’s cinemas

Investment by cinema operators in the ‘big screen experience’ has resulted in movie buffs buying almost $1bn in tickets in 2023. See what blockbusters are slated for this year.

Ryan Gosling as Ken and Margot Robbie as Barbie in a scene from the movie Barbie.

The Australian box office earned almost $1bn in 2023 thanks to a string of cinema blockbusters as operators invested millions of dollars to enhance the big screen experience.

According to cinema reporting platform Numero, the Australian gross box office in 2023 was $986m – up 4.4 per cent on last year and 62 per cent ahead on 2021 when the world was in the grips of the pandemic.

With further instalments of successful children’s and adults’ franchises and a line-up of superhero blockbusters, 2024 is expected to continue to have the recovery in box office receipts.

Representing 2000 screens across Australia and 500 locations, Cinema Association Australasia executive director Cameron Mitchell said the 2023 box office results reinforced the “incredible appeal” of the cinema experience in Australia.

“Despite a reduction in wide releases in 2023 – attributed to the now resolved writers and actors strikes – Australian cinema visits are forecast to have exceeded 60 million visits in Australia for the calendar year generated from the release of over 300 films,” he said.

“Average Australian ticket prices are one of the lowest globally when benchmarked against the minimum wage, making cinema one of the most affordable out-of-home entertainment option even more apparent when comparisons are made to concerts and sporting events.”

Ryan Gosling as Ken and Margot Robbie in a scene from the movie Barbie.

According to Box Office Mojo, Barbie was the top grossing film in 2023 generating $58.7m, followed by The Super Mario Bros Movie ($30.9m); Avatar: The Way of Water ($28.7m – overall $63.7m) and Oppenheimer ($27.7m).

Although the writers’ and actors’ strike slowed the release of movies in 2023, major cinema chains invested in premium experiences such as IMAX, Hoyts LUX and Gold Class as well as upgraded foyers and bars, bigger screens, brighter projection, enhanced sound, and comfortable seats.

Targeted loyalty programs continue to reward frequent visitation with discounts. At the same time the major streaming companies were investing billions of dollars in films for initial cinema release before they were streamed.

Co-founder and co-managing director of independent Cinebar Dave Taylor said box office receipts were slowly improving from the Covid-19 pandemic years.

“I think 2019 ($1.228bn) was almost as good as it gets and then Covid struck and it’s been a slow time but always climbing every year,” he said.

“If you follow the trend, 2025 should start to rival 2019.”

The South East Queensland-based cinema operator currently has almost 600 recliner seats with a waiter services delivering meals and drinks at its Rosalie Village complex in Brisbane and its Coolangatta theatre on the Gold Coast.

When Cinebar Ferny Grove in Brisbane’s northwest opens in 2025 the number of its recliner seats will be well in excess of 1000, making it one of the largest cinema group of its type in Australia.

Cinebar co-owner David Taylor. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Mr Taylor said although the pandemic had been a boon for streaming services and had an associated spike in the installation of home theatres, people were increasingly willing to embrace the premium cinema experience.

“If Covid taught us anything it’s no fun being home anymore, being a ‘Nigel lonesome’ in your tracksuit pants,” he said.

“The second thing is that we were a spoiled during Covid when movie houses had no choice but to release their very expensive $200m films direct to streaming.

“Would have Barbie made over $1bn worldwide, or whatever, from streaming? You will never get those big-budget films going direct to streaming again.

“So streamers are saying that if you can’t beat them join theme with their big megafilms going to the cinemas before being streamed.”

Streamers such as Apple and Amazon have committed billions of dollars annually to make and promote cinema releases. In Australia films made by streamers such as Air ($9.1m), Killers Of The Flower Moon ($7.8m) and Napoleon ($11.2m) did well in the cinemas before appearing on the subscription services.

Genre and language diversity also achieved strong results in 2023. Horror films M3GAN, The Nun II and Five Nights at Freddies had achieved strong results while Indian films attracted record numbers of cinemagoers, with Pathaan becoming the highest grossing Indian film of all time in Australia.

Independent Cinema Association chief executive Brett Rosengarten said 2024 should be another strong year.

“The results of Barbie and Oppenheimer showed Australian audiences’ appetite for cinema was unabated, and that the future for cinema across the region looks extremely bright,” he said.

“Now, with the strikes and the pandemic behind us, films such as Wonka, Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom, Wish and Migration will see audiences flocking to the cinemas over summer and providing a terrific finale to the year and an exceptional start to 2024.”