01-09-2016

BOX OFFICE: Maltese Films Net 2.9% Sales of Local Admissions

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    VALLETTA: Figures released by the National Statistics Office for 2015 ticket sales show a downward trend for local cinema by 1.3 percentage points in comparison to the previous year. US films still lead the pack with 79% of seats sold (up from 73% in 2014), with EU films registering a meagre but steady 16%.

    In 2015, 2.9% of tickets sold were for Maltese films. In 2014, the figure was 4.2%, hence the difference of 1.3 percentage points.

    For a population of 430,000, Malta has eight cinemas, with a total of 35 screens (31 equipped with Digital 3D) and 6,748 seats. Over the last year, 375 different titles where shown, up from 368. Overall attendance registered an 8% increase, with ticket sales hitting 704,243 and raking in 4.19 m EUR in gross receipts, of which Maltese productions pocketed just 0.1 m EUR.  

    While in 2014 Maltese films attracted the largest audience per film (average of 5,500) and had the greatest exposure (average of 280 screening days), the figures almost halved in 2015 (audience 2,500, screening days 70), losing out to films from the US on audience and hitting a draw on the number of screening days.

    The documentary format was relatively succesful, climbing up from 121 admissions for two films, to 5,814 admissions for 15 films. On the other hand, stereoscopic films slid downwards to 9.4% of tickets sold from 12.8%.

    The most popular titles of 2015 were Spectre (5.9% of admissions), Minions (5.3%) and Fast & Furious 7 (5.2%).