CinemaOne credits Avatar, Black Panther for $m rebound

The company which runs IMAX and Gemstones cinemas, CinemaONE, on Tuesday credited the movies Avatar The Way of Water and Black Panther Wakanda Forever for a big rebound in their fortunes, in a paid press advert of their financial statements for the last three months of 2022.

The chairman's report within the statements said, globally, Avatar delivered US$1.5 billion in December and reached the ten top-grossing movies of all time.

"The global box office ended 2022 at US$25.9 billion. While this was 35 per cent below the 2017 pre-covid19 average, it was 27 per cent higher than 2021 and 119 per cent higher than 2020."

Reflecting locally, chairman Brian Jahra, remarked, "Indeed the back-to-back strong movie titles commencing with Black Panther Wakanda Forever followed by Avatar The Way of Water in December propel CinemaONE to attendance and revenue performances which parallel pre-covid19 periods."

He compared Q1 of fiscal 2023 to Q1 of fiscal 2022.

"Gross revenue increased by 128 per cent to $4.6 million (compared to $2 million in 2022.)

"Gross profit increased by 123 per cent to $2.6 million (compared to $1.1 million in 2022." Operating profit rose from $0.004 million ($4,000) to $0.5 million ($500,000), net profitability rose from minus 0.4 million (-$400,000) to $0.03 million ($30,000), with EBITDA rising from 0.7 million to $1.5 million.

Jahra mulled the future outlook. "As the global cinema exhibition recovery continues and patrons return to movie-going, CinemaONE1 FY 2023 performance was strengthened by the blockbuster appeal of major movie titles.

"While Black Panther 2 Wakanda Forever did not exceed the record-breaking attendance of the 2018 first instalment of this inspiring franchise, the November 2022 release emerged as one of the company's best-performing titles in the pandemic era and ranks as number 12 overall for CinemaONE."