German cinemas had a decent resurgence in the first half of 2023, as provisional figures compiled by Comscore reveal a substantial year-on-year increase. The total box office revenue for the first six months reached EUR €422.3 million (USD $461.60 million), accompanied by 41.5 million admissions. This marks a remarkable 42.1% surge compared to the same period in 2022, almost reaching the levels recorded in the pre-pandemic first half of 2019.

Among the successful releases, Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” stands out, accumulating over EUR €50 million (USD $54.7 million and 5.1 million admissions. Disney’s “Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3” secured second place with EUR €22.5 million (USD $24.6 million) and 1.9 million admissions. James Cameron’s “Avatar – The Way of Water,” which opened in mid-December 2022, continued its strong performance, garnering a total of EUR €138 million (USD $151 million) and 10.1 million admissions by mid-May 2023.

Disney dominated the field of distributors, achieving a 30.2% market share of total box office takings and 25.2% of admissions for the first half of 2023. Universal followed with a 22.6% market share, largely attributed to successes like “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and other titles such as “Fast & Furious 10” and “Book Club 2.” Leonine secured the third spot with a 9.2% market share and retained its position as the leading independent distributor.

We have to ask though, do German cinemas have air conditioning? Because a six-week heat wave in May and June saw moviegoing decline because audiences were reportedly looking for ways to escape the heat. Isn’t going to a movie theatre one of the best ways to cool off during the summer?