According to the UK Cinema Association, 2023 was another important step in the recovery of the UK cinema sector post-Covid, with an increase in box office revenue of 8.2% on the previous year, resulting in revenues reaching over £978.5m. At the same time, admissions were also up 5.3% on 2022 at £123.6m (Figure 9).

The fortunes of the cinema sector are, of course, largely influenced by Hollywood. 2023 saw a significant improvement in the number of blockbuster releases, as the hangover from Covid-driven production delays receded. While 2022 brought recovery in the overall volume of films, there had remained a shortfall in the number of ‘saturation’ releases – those playing in over 250 cinemas – falling from 186 in 2019 to 135 in 2022.

However, this improved to 174 saturation releases in 2023, almost back to the levels seen pre-Covid and undoubtedly welcome news for the UK cinema industry. Such titles included The Super Mario Bros. Movie which saw box office revenue reach over £50m in April, followed by Barbie passing £50 million in just eleven days to reach the top spot for 2023 with a revenue totalling £87m. Oppenheimer was the other big mover of the year, finishing in second place with a revenue of £52.8m.

Nevertheless, 2023 was a tough year for the bigger operators, with Cineworld and Empire Cinemas filing for administration in the UK last summer. The Empire administration had a silver lining however, with Ireland’s Omniplex Cinema Group acquiring five of the six closed cinemas as part of its ambitions to expand in the UK market.

Vue also completed a debt-for-equity swap with lenders in the early part of 2023, which saw £470m of debt wiped out and has recently announced a fresh debt restructuring this quarter, as the Hollywood strikes pushed out timetables of blockbuster releases key for recovery in 2024. Everyman Group bucked the trend, with revenue growth of 16.7% for 2023 (to £90.9m), coupled with the acquisition of the two Tivoli sites in Bath and Cheltenham from the Empire administrations and a further four new openings expected in 2024.

Overall, the cinema sector will remain under pressure in 2024, but the successes of 2023 prove that the fundamentals of the sector and consumers enjoying the cinema-going experience remain true.

_{Read the articles within Spotlight: UK Leisure – 2024 below.}