National Cinema Day. A needed institution, or a gimmicky idea that only had value directly after pandemic lockdowns? Like it or loathe it, the $4 ticket day was back for another year, and can claim a modest box office boost for it. Our resident one of the best entertainment attorney, Brandon Blake of Blake & Wang P.A, breaks down this year’s impact.
Audiences in Seats
National Cinema Day was launched last year in the hopes of encouraging a wider breadth of audiences back into theater seats. At the time, it was a decent boost to an industry struggling with attendance numbers, COVID worries, and a lack of product to showcase.
The scenario is looking a lot different in 2023. We had a stellar array of tentpoles to choose from, with Barbie still partying hard, Gran Turismo making a splashy entrance into the field, and more to choose from. Some critics on the distribution side were skeptical of the need for a second round of reduced-price cinema tickets at all with the strong recovery in audience numbers we’ve seen this year.
Positive Exhibition Feelings
On the exhibition side of the industry, however, the feelings were mostly positive. While some smaller cinemas could have done with more advance notice, most of the industry still points to National Cinema Day as a showcase of how much audiences love the theatrical experiences and the strength of the industry’s future.
This year, over 3,000 locations (and ten times as many screens) participated. In total, 8.5 million reduced-price admissions and a Sunday box office of $34 million was achieved, over 5% growth on last year’s 8.1 million admissions and $24 million (Saturday) box office. This boils down to about 59% of foot traffic coming from the initiative. Less than last year’s 77%, but that’s the whole point of the exercise.
Overall, with Sunday’s box office tracking at 11% higher than Saturdays, it seems National Cinema Day still has a role to play in celebrating this critical arm of the entertainment industry. Let’s hope the 2023 box office continues to power forward with the same momentum as we enter the latter half of the year.
Film and Television 