Maltese cinemagoers drop by 4.4% in 2016

Admissions to Maltese cinemas dropped by 4.4 per cent in 2016 over 2015, reaching 673,487. Nearly a quarter of these cinemagoers chose a 3D-film.

Statistics released by the NSO showed that eight cinema establishments were open to the public during the year under review, two of which in Gozo, having a total of 35 screens and a seating capacity of 6,771.

A total of 391 new film titles were proposed in 2016, an increase of 16 films over 2015.

74.8 per cent of cinemagoers watched films originating from the United States reaching 503,975, while 144,638 cinemagoers (21.5 per cent) watched a film originating from an EU country.

On their part, Maltese productions accounted for 11,036 admissions, equivalent to 1.6 per cent of the total. On average, Maltese production were screened for a relatively longer duration than foreign films. This however did not help mitigate differences between the average demand for films originating from USA and those originating from Malta.

The eight cinema establishments reported a total number of 938 film shows projected in 2016, of which 78.7 per cent were first-time releases. 64% of these film shows were fiction (non-animated) films, while the share of animation film shows reached 17.5 per cent.

On the other hand, admissions in fiction and animation films stood at 69.1 per cent and 24.3 per cent of the total respectively.

The three most popular movies in 2016 were ‘Finding Dory’, ‘Deadpool’ and ‘The Secret Life of Pets’. These three films attracted 4.2, 3.2, and 3.1 per cent of cinemagoers in 2016, respectively.

Last year, cinemas employed an average of 187 persons, of which 84.0 per cent were

engaged on a part-time basis.