US non-profit The Cinema Foundation has released its inaugural State of the Cinema Industry report, painting an optimistic picture of an exhibition sector that “returned to its feet” in 2022.
The Foundation, created last year by the US National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), says in the report that “box office, on a film-by-film basis, has rebounded to 2019 levels, limited only by the number of wide releases in the marketplace.” North American box office takings totaled $7.5bn in 2022, up from $4.6bn in 2021 but still well short of 2019’s pre-pandemic tally of $11.4bn.
In a press briefing on the report, Foundation president Jackie Brenneman commented that “product supply has been our biggest issue,” with the number of wide releases down to 71 in 2022, compared to 112 in 2019. But with 107 wide releases already slated for 2022, she added, “it does look like we have quite a few more wide releases this year and we’re seeing that the box office is responding in turn.”
The report records that the number of screens in North America dropped by 5%, to 42,063, between 2019 and 2022. But among surviving North American exhibitors, it adds, 39% plan on adding premium large format (PLF) screens - which accounted for 14% of North American box office last year - over the next three years.
The worldwide screen count rose 5.8% between 2019 and last year, says the report, reaching 212,590. “There are territories that had better years last year with their box office than they did before the pandemic, like Nigeria,” Brenneman said. “There’s room for growth in some territories that have not reached maturity.”
The average cinema ticket price in North America in 2022 was $10.53, according to the report, less than inflation-adjusted prices for 2019 and even 1971.
Discussing theatrical windows and streaming, the Foundation report says the latter is “an important part of a film’s distribution plan, but it does not replace theaters which remain primary in the film ecosystem… Theatrical serves as a marketing platform and a signal of quality for streaming consumers.”
In 2023, the report concedes, “windows will be shorter (the one victory studios gained), but the all important theatrical release will now sit at the apex of movie marketing for generations to come.”
Spotlighting the results of the first US National Cinema Day, organised by the Cinema Foundation last September, the report says that 59% of people who attended the $3-a-ticket promotional event have been going to cinemas more often since. Brenneman revealed that the Foundation plans to stage another National Cinema Day in the US sometime this year.
Tracking interest in alternative content in cinemas, the report says that 77% of audiences are interested in seeing television episodes on the big screen and 19% would pay more than the average film ticket price for the experience. Seventy-two percent of audiences are interested in seeing concerts on the big screen, according to the report.
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