Box Office Archives - Celluloid Junkie

UNIC Data Shows European Cinema Recovery in 2022

International cinema trade body UNIC has published its preliminary estimates for 2022 box office and admissions across the territories that it covers. The figures show a significant recovery across all countries compared to the Covid lows of 2020 and 2021, even if most countries have yet to see a re…

Chinese Spring Festival Sees Strong Box Office Return

The recently concluded Chinese Spring Festival holiday saw a strong return for local movies, following a significant decline in the box office in 2022. In total 126 million tickets were sold, adding up to CNY 6.65 billion (USD $982 million) as of last Friday. Four local titles dominated the new rele…

Viral TikTok Trend Leads to Disruptions of “Minions” Screenings

The record-breaking run of “Minions: the Rise of Gru” over the July 4th weekend has been marred by a viral TikTok trend that has led to the disruption of some cinema screenings. The #GentleMinions trend has seen youths turning up in screenings wearing suits and filming themselves clappin…

Uncharted China Poster

Cinemas in China Face New Wave of Closures

Cinemas across several parts of China have closed as part of regional lockdowns in response to outbreaks of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. This comes after cinemas in China enjoyed a long period of remaining open following the first lockdown two years ago. China’s Zero Covid policy means tha…

China 2021 Box Office - CJ Cinema Summit

China on Track to Top Global Box Office in 2022 for Third Successive Year

The latest CJCinemaSummit featured a special focus on China, the world’s biggest cinema market in terms of box office and screens. With the blockbuster Spring Festival just concluded, we heard from experts at Comscore and Vista Group about the outlook for the year ahead, how Chinese releases c…

7 Batignol Cinema - Paris, France

French Cinema Attendance in “Free Fall” as Other European Countries Consider Health Pass Mandate

The introduction of an EU Health Certificate (a.k.a. ‘vaccine passport’) requirement to attend cinemas in France has led to a ‘free fall’ drop in attendance. The news is a blow to French cinemas, which had experienced a steady growth since reopening earlier this summer after…

By The Numbers: Predicting Cinema’s Post-COVID Recovery

At the end of last year the Celluloid Junkie editorial team began discussing its annual predictions piece for 2021. However, most expert forecasts for 2020 crumbled like volcanic lava sliding into the ocean. We stared into the 2021 crystal ball and saw a lot of fog regarding the return of cinema and…

The UK Cinema Industry in 2020 – A Year to Learn From

It is quite revealing as to the state of the year when a third of the top 10 films of 2020 were in fact released in 2019. But 2020 was far from normal, as the latest annual summary from Comscore illustrates. The headlines are not pretty. Total UK and Ireland box office was just £323m,Read More

The Storm Before the Calm: European Cinemas Buoyed by Local Films Pre-Lockdown

For European exhibitors in November 2020, there is a sense of deja-vu. “Lockdown 2 – The Sequel”. Not playing in a cinema near you. In response to rising coronavirus cases, Europe is once again closed for business. Gower Street reports that only 24% of theatres are now open across the EMEA region, d…

“Tenet” Opening Box Office Numbers Heralds Strong Start of Cinema Revival

Forty-one territories later, Warner Bros’ long-awaited and much anticipated “Tenet” did more than predicted. Outside of America’s domestic market, Christopher Nolan’s big screen metaphysical action film grossed $53m during a five day opening weekend. Screens opening on August 26th lead t…