After two years in which the coronavirus pandemic put the world on standby, which included the film industry, this 2022 has been marked by being the return to that “old normality” that, we believed, would never return; and as far as Spanish cinemas are concerned, this recovery trend has been constant since January which was 261% higher than its 2021 counterpart.
However, after eight months of growth compared to the previous year —although with a downward trend as of May—, last September marked the first month with a negative evolution at the box office. Specifically, 3.7 million viewers went to the rooms, leaving a total collection of €23.45 million; 12.28% less than in September 2021, which ended with 4.7 million viewers and 26.7 million grosses.
Thaddeus Jones and everything else
To get an idea of what happened, all we have to do is take a look at the top 5 with the most viewed of the month, led by ‘Tadeo Jones 3: The Emerald Table’ that amassed 4.95 million euros in September after its premiere on August 26. A sum that almost doubles that of her immediate pursuer, ‘Journey to Paradise’, which closed the period with 2.68 million of euros.
After her, three titles held within the million euro range. These were ‘Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero’, ‘Bullet Train’ and ‘La vida padre’; feature films that harvested 1.83 million, 1.46 million and 1.12 million respectively. Absolutely negligible figures, but somewhat discouraging if we take into account that from sixth place in the ranking, everything is collections below one million.
Regarding the market share by distributors, Paramount is in first position with 27.48% of the pie and a total collection of 6.4 million driven mainly by ‘Tadeo Jones 3’. After her, Sony came close with 23.52% quota, finding in ‘Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero’ his most profitable tape and amassing a total of 5.5 million.
Closing the top 3 and opening a big gap with their pursuers, Universal closed September with a 19.86% market share, raising a total of 4.6 million euros thanks, in good part, to ‘Journey to paradise’. Of course, much more surprising than this has been finding Walt Disney in sixth position with a share of 4.2%, behind Diamond Films.
Hopefully, the month of October will reinvigorate a box office that it needs more than ever. a good assortment of powerful feature films. Between the revival of ‘Avatar’, bets on terror like ‘Smile’, ‘Halloween: The End’ or ‘Little Pig’ and superhero bombings like ‘Black Adam’, the miracle may work; although if there is a great lifeline for this 2022, that is ‘Avatar 2’the last bullet in the chamber.