Australia’s gross box office for the first quarter of 2023 reached A$217.8m (US$145m), 26% down for the same period in 2019 (A$294.8m, US$196.2m) according to Comscore.
But the industry is hopeful that as the pipeline of US titles speeds up, audiences will respond well.
“The biggest difference (between 2023 and 2019) was the number of tentpole studio films,” says Comscore’s vice president of movies for the Asia Pacific and Australia, Frank Perikleous. “Ten films passed A$10m in 2019. This year there’s only been four. The Hollywood studios are ramping up, but we don’t expect them to be at full strength until mid-year or the third quarter.”
The three highest grossing titles from January to March 2023 were Disney’s Avatar: The Way Of Water , Universal’s Puss In Boots: The Last Wish and Disney’s Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania.
“There was definitely a shortage of content driving the box office,” said Damian Keogh, head of Australian exhibitor Hoyts. He pointed to Babylon (Paramount), Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania, Shazam! Fury Of The Gods (Warner Bros) and Creed (Warner Bros) among the Q1 disappointments.
Keogh is optimistic 2023 will do 85% of 2019’s A$1.23 billion (US$818.7m) gross and expects The Super Mario Bros. Movie to become the biggest animated movie ever in the territory, based on expected first-week takings of A$20 million for Universal.
“It’s showing all the signs that it’s going to bust through to A$50m (US$33.3m),” he said. It’s also a key reason that Easter cinema-going was busier than Christmas, “which doesn’t happen that often”.
Keogh noted Studiocanal’s John Wick: Chapter 4 continued to attract crowds over the long Easter weekend and that the response to Warner Bros’ adult-skewing Air was positive.
“It’s getting back to the traditions that drive cinema,” he suggested. “Four quadrant blockbusters – supported by high quality and diverse films. This has not been a characteristic of cinema post Covid. It’s been feast or famine.”
Hoyts has 58 cinemas in Australia and New Zealand, representing 497 screens, and a 26% share of the market.
Keogh said horror titles are doing well, average admission prices and concessions sales are strong, but older audiences remain reluctant to return.
Hoyts has been owned by Chinese company Wanda Cinema Line since 2015 but Wanda is known to be looking to sell the Australian circuit.
“They have been great owners,” said Keogh. “Rather than us paying dividends back to China, we renovated more than 80% of our cinemas, installing powered recliners in most of them and giving audiences a greater level of comfort at no extra price.”
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