Maltese films were viewed by 17,911 people generating a total gross box office of €97,000 through 756 screenings, while foreign productions had 822,020 viewers delivering a box office of €5.4m via 44,255 screenings in 2018, according to the latest figures published by the National Statistics Office (NSO). Malta had eight cinemas on offer with a total of 35 screens and a seating capacity of 6,716.
The cinemas employed an average of 174 people, 83.5% on a part-time basis.
Furthermore, in Malta and Gozo, there were 450 films projected and they registered a total of 839,931 admissions in 2018. In addition, the total screenings amounted to 45,011 with an average of 100 screenings per film.
The 91.5% of customers have watched films from the US and Maltese productions attracted 2.1% of the total number of admissions.
Furthermore, 3D movies accounted for 11.8%, while 87.2% of admissions were for non-3D films. Moreover, 292 fiction films amounted to 292, attracting 77.3% of people. On their part, animation films amounted to 49 and attracted 19.8%.
Mercury’s life rules 2018
The most popular movies were “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again” and “Johnny English Strikes Again”, the NSO press release says.
Freddy Mercury and his life story attracted, in fact, 8.2% of the total admissions, while “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again” and “Johnny English Strikes Again” engaged 5.8% and 5%, respectively.
In terms of age classification, 33.8% of the films were rated as 15 while 18.9% 12A, which means they were suitable for children aged 12 and over. Only 2.2% were rated as 18+.
Focusing on running time, 62.4% of the movies fell within the 76 to 120 minutes bracket. These were followed by durations of 121 to 180 minutes, amounting to 27.3%.
On the one hand, the “Live/Encore” type of shows which includes operas, ballets, and theatre, had the longest-running time with an average of 165 minutes. On the other hand, animation films were the shortest with an average of 91 minutes.
The full report with charts and tables is available for download at the NSO website.