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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
Cinemas started to reopen their doors on 17 May and the return of the big screen has seen big box office and admissions numbers in its first three weeks, recovering quickly to pre-pandemic levels.
The opening weeks have been strong with audiences returning far quicker than we saw last year:
5m admissions
In the opening 3.5 weeks the DCM estate has delivered 5m admissions. An incredibly strong return considering between June-December last year the DCM estate delivered 5.9m admissions.
90% of average pre-pandemic ad playlists scheduled
The DCM estate is almost fully open and we’re already scheduling c.80,000 ad playlists a week – only 8% down on the pre-pandemic average of 90,0000 a week
90% of average pre-pandemic audience size by screening
Despite social distancing rules in place, audience sizes per screening are almost at pre-pandemic levels across the weekends – with an average of 27 people per showing vs. 30 people pre-COVID.
Based on initial insight from the opening three weeks, cinema’s returning audience is profiling young and ABC1 – with Peter Rabbit 2, Cruella and the horror movies enticing the family and 16-34 audiences back. And with an incredible film slate scheduled for the rest of the year, admissions are set to continue to grow across the summer and beyond
Download DCM’s Cinema Comeback deck which includes all the latest cinema news needed to help plan your next cinema campaign, including forecasts for the rest of 2021, cinema audiences and the 2021 film slate.
DCM’s CEO, Karen Stacey, has also drafted a piece for Campaign Magazine outlining why these strong opening numbers are a good omen for the revival of the cinema sector – read the full piece here.