Cinema attendance last year dropped by 10% over the previous year and reached  780,763, the NSO said today.
 
It said it had conducted a survey  among the seven cinemas in Malta and Gozo.

Collectively, they had 38 screens and a total seat capacity of 7,100 in 2011.

92 percent  were equipped with the traditional film projection format.  18 per cent could project digital films whereas 16 per cent had the capacity of showing films in 3D.

26 screens in six cinemas were accessible to persons with disabilities.

Over 90 per cent of the tickets sold last year were purchased from box offices. Total admissions for 3D movies accounted for 20 per cent of the total.  Cinemas were most popular in December and July, with 11 and 10 per cent of the total respectively.

In contrast to admissions, the number of films screened in 2011 went up by 9% when compared to 2010, amounting to 394. Most of the films shown in Malta and Gozo (66 per cent) were produced in the United States, while only six were produced locally. The total number of screenings stood at 57,740, up by 11 per cent over the previous year - an average of almost 150 screenings per film. The average number of screening days per film amounted to 41.

The most popular movies shown in 2010 and 2011 were ‘Avatar’ and ‘The Smurfs’, with 46,793 and 33,043 admissions respectively. The latter, film was screened in 2011 and was followed by the movie ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ with 29,443 admissions.

While in terms of numbers most movies shown in 2011 were drama films, comedy films attracted the biggest audience share, at 25 per cent. In spite of a drop of 49 per cent when compared to 2010, fantasy/science fiction (sci-fi) films registered the highest average number of admissions per film.

Survey data showed that films shot in Malta performed relatively well in terms of admissions.

Last year, staff employed by cinemas amounted to 205, a slight decrease of 3 per cent over the previous year. Persons employed on a part-time basis comprised the absolute majority of paid workers. On a gender basis, men outnumbered women and accounted for 58 per cent of the total.

The total expenditure by cinemas in 2011 amounted to €5.4 million. Just over a third of the total expenditure was made on payments to film distributors, subcontracting costs and training fees, while staff costs contributed to another 20 per cent of total expenditure.

Income generated by these cinemas also declined by 6 per cent when compared to 2010 levels and stood at €6.1 million. At 70 per cent, gross box office income constituted the main source of revenue.

This was followed by income from sales of food and beverages, which stood at €1.6 million (26 per cent).

During 2011, cinemas registered a surplus of almost €0.7 million.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.