Major cinema chain Cineworld Group Plc has seen a fall in box office takings in the first half of 2019 but is banking on the Force – in the form of a new Star Wars movie – to help send revenues stratospheric during the rest of the year.
The multi-national business, which has 124 outlets in the UK and is opening more including at Plymouth’s £53million Drake Circus Leisure development, said admissions decreased by 8.2% during the six-month period to June 30, 2019.
Box Office revenue decreased by 8.8% also, and the company blamed a lack of blockbuster movies compared to the same time in 2018 when cinemagoers flocked to Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Jurassic World.
In the UK and Ireland the top five grossing films in the first six months of 2019 were, Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel, Aladdin, Toy Story 4 and Dumbo which grossed US$213.7million.
This compares to the first half of 2018 where the top five titles were Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, The Greatest Showman, Peter Rabbit and Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom which grossed US$237.5million.
But Cineworld is confident about the second half of 2019 and said it started well with the release in July of Spiderman: Far From Home, The Lion King and Fast and Furious: Hobbs & Shaw.
And it is looking forward to It Chapter Two, Joker, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Terminator: Dark Fate, Frozen 2, Jumanji: The Next Level, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
“Based on the film slate in the second half and our first half results, we remain confident in delivering a performance for the full year in line with management's expectations,” the company said.
“Our strategy and vision remains the same, to be ‘The Best Place to Watch a Movie’ by continually focusing on providing the best customer experience, maintaining technological leadership, expanding and upgrading the estate, and training and retaining highly motivated, experienced and loyal staff.”
Cineworld has 555 cinemas in the USA and others across eastern Europe and even in Israel. In the first half of 2019 it opened seven sites and now has 786 sites and 9,494 screens.
It expects to open a further nine sites, with 86 screens, by the end of 2019, including the 12-screen multiplex in Plymouth, due to open in October 2019, for which the firm is recruiting 82 workers.
Anthony Bloom, chairman of Cineworld, said: "As expected, revenue was softer on a comparative basis for the first half of the year due to the difference in timing of major releases.
“We are pleased with the progress in achieving the synergies and costs savings in the US and anticipate achieving full year results in line with our expectations.
Mooky Greidinger, chief executive of Cineworld , said: "The business is performing as expected and we are confident in meeting our expectations for the full year. We remain focused on implementing our strategy, with refurbishments and synergies on track.
“Investing in technology and customer experience continues to be a key pillar of our strategy. In July, we launched our highly anticipated Unlimited membership program in the US, using our proven and successful experience with Unlimited in the UK to deliver value for cinema lovers everywhere.
“Supported by a strong box office performance in July and a very encouraging second half release schedule, we maintain our outlook for the full year performance of the business.
“Very strong admissions for The Lion King demonstrated the ongoing popularity of the theatrical business around the globe, while Avengers: Endgame was the highest grossing movie of all time.
“Still to come are It Chapter Two, Joker, Frozen 2, and one of the most anticipated movies in recent years, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.”
