An initiative of the EU MEDIA Programme with the support of the Italian Government Since 1992 MEDIA Salles has been promoting the European cinema and its circulation at theatrical level

 

 

 

Talk by Elisabetta Brunella
Secretary General of MEDIA Salles
at the Conference "Film Exhibition Business"
KINO EXPO 2003
Moscow, 16 September 2003

I should like to thank the organisers of Kino Expo 2003 for inviting MEDIA Salles to take part in this important and truly international meeting of the cinema industry.
Before my contribution to the debate, by providing some data and information on cinema-going in Europe, I shall briefly introduce MEDIA Salles, the organisation that I represent.
MEDIA Salles - Cinema d'Europa is a non-profit association founded in 1991 under the auspices of the European Union - more precisely of the MEDIA Programme, on behalf of the audiovisual industry, with the support of the Italian Government.
MEDIA Salles' members are the associations representing cinema exhibitors in the industrial and art-house sectors at a national or international level in Europe.
MEDIA Salles, which has its headquarters in Milan, Italy, has been working since 1991 on behalf of cinemas and the promotion of European films.
MEDIA Salles is active in three main fields: the promotion of European films, exhibitor training and information on the cinema industry, in particular on cinema-going.
In the field of promotion MEDIA Salles organises the 'Focus on Europe' events at the most important professional meetings of exhibitors and distributors at an international level.
For some years now the Focus on Europe event organised by MEDIA Salles in Amsterdam for Cinema Expo has become a regular appointment for the exhibitors of Western and Central Europe: thanks to Focus on Europe's opening seminar, they are able to gain information on the most recent trends in cinema-going and marketing in theatres and thanks to the screenings, they can become familiar with the European films of international appeal about to be released on the different markets.

In the sphere of training, MEDIA Salles promotes the only specific training course for exhibitors at a European level. Theatre management, marketing techniques, the opportunities and risks of digital cinema are the main topics of these intensive courses.
The next course will begin in a few days' time (24-28 September) in Rome, with the collaboration of the Italian and Danish exhibitors' associations, and of the European Film College. In autumn 2004 a similar course will be held in Budapest.
And lastly information: in this field MEDIA Salles offers several tools which aim to bring a better knowledge of the cinema market both to the operators themselves and to institutions, potential investors and the press.
The website (www.mediasalles.it) with the special Cinema Research Library section, the quarterly newsletter European Cinema Journal, distributed to over ten thousand key professionals and, above all, the European Cinema Yearbook are the tools used by MEDIA Salles to spread information on the sector, as well as the results of the Association's research.

It is from this research, collected in the European Cinema Yearbook, that I would like to start out, providing some figures on cinema-going in Western Europe (18 countries) and in 14 territories in Central and Eastern Europe.
In 2002 over 31 000 screens were recorded in this area, of which 26 000 in Western Europe and over 4 000 in Central and Eastern Europe.
Thus a total of screens only slightly lower than that of the United States which, in 2002, recorded around 35 000 screens.

Tab. 1: NUMBER OF SCREENS WORLDWIDE

 
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Var %
95/02
Var%
00/02
Western Europe
19 583
20 366
21 483
22 698
24 055
24 982
25 932
26 645
+36%
+6,60%
Eastern Europe
4 497
4 232
4 276
4 258
4 452
4 379
4 701
4 657
+4%
+6,30%
USA
27 805
29 690
31 640
34 186
37 185
37 396
36 764
35 280
+27%
-5,70%
Japan
1 776
1 828
1 884
1 993
2 230
2 524
2 585
2 635
+48%
+4,40%
Australia
1 137
1 251
1 431
1 576
1 748
1 817
1 855
1 872
+65%
+3%

But with one important difference: the European market witnesses an increase in the number of screens, whilst the US market experiences a dip in 2001 (-5,7% in the 2000-2002 period).

Tab. 2: NUMBER OF SCREENS WORLDWIDE (graph.)

As regards Europe, over the past two years growth has been identical both in the west and in central-eastern parts.
If, however, we look at the 1995-2000 period, it can be seen that the growth rates were quite different: +36% in Western Europe, +4% in Central-Eastern Europe.
Regarding the number of tickets sold, it can immediately be seen that, unlike the case of screen numbers, the difference in favour of the United States is decidedly more marked.

Tab. 3: ADMISSIONS WORLDWIDE

 
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
Var % 95/02
 
USA
1 262,6
1 338,6
1 387,7
1 480,7
1 465,2
1 420,8
1 487,3
1 639,3
+29,8%
+29,8%
JAPAN
127,0
119,6
140,7
153,1
144,7
135,4
163,3
160,8
+26,6%
+26,6%
AUSTRALIA
69,0
73,9
76,0
80,0
88,0
82,0
92,5
92,5
+34,1%
+34,1%

Admissions (x 1 000 000)

Tab. 4: ADMISSIONS IN EUROPE

WESTERN EUROPE 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 Var %
95/02		 Var %
98/02
684 092 732 773 787 205 845 542 833 850 867 123 957 717 967 055 +41.4% +14.4%

CENTRAL AND EASTERN
EUROPE
AND MEDITERRANEAN RIM		 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Var %
98/02
97 597 97 431 94 485 106 183 101 086
+3.6%

TOTAL 1998 2002 Var %
98/02
943 139 1 068 141 + 13,3%

Admissions (x 1 000)

In 2002 in the United States 1 639 million tickets were sold, compared to 1 068 million in the whole of Europe (+53,5%).
The differences are also quite evident within Europe: from 1995 to 2002 Western Europe grew by 41%, from 1998 to 2002 by 14%; instead Central-Eastern Europe grew by only 3,6% between 1998 and 2002.
Amongst the phenomena that distinguished Western Europe in the 90s there is certainly the development of multiplexes, i.e., according to the definition proposed by MEDIA Salles and adopted as common practice by several bodies, complexes with at least 8 screens.
In the following tables we have a "photograph" of the situation on 31 October 2002.

Tab. 5: MULTIPLEXES IN EUROPE - number of sites (as at 31st October 2002)

Tab. 6: MULTIPLEXES IN EUROPE - number of screens (as at 31st October 2002)

In the following tables we can see how, to what extent and how quickly the multiplexes spread in the various European countries.

Tab. 7: DENSITY OF SCREENS IN MONOSCREEN CINEMAS, MULTISCREENS AND MULTIPLEXES IN 2001

 
1 screen
2 screens
3-5 screens
6-7 screens
>=8 screens
A
17,79%
11,40%
22,45%
9,50%
38,86%
B
9,94%
7,30%
20,89%
13,18%
48,68%
CH
51,38%
13,78%
16,93%
8,66%
9,25%
D
18,38%
13,36%
30,07%
12,98%
25,21%
DK
27,70%
16,62%
26,04%
14,13%
15,51%
E
19,80%
4,70%
19,24%
15,32%
40,94%
F
25,09%
10,84%
26,71%
11,09%
26,27%
FIN
51,62%
11,21%
18,58%
5,90%
12,68%
GR
79,52%
5,29%
4,85%
-
10,35%
I
58,79%
10,51%
15,88%
3,13%
11,69%
L
32,00%
8,00%
20,00%
-
40,00%
N
47,21%
12,18%
24,87%
6,35%
9,39%
NL
6,55%
14,51%
55,22%
11,33%
12,39%
S
60,05%
6,30%
15,08%
4,68%
13,88%

Tab. 8: DENSITY OF SCREENS IN MULTIPLEXES

 

1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001

A

-
-
2,06%
4,43%
.
12,11%
16,04%
20,28%
28,83%
33,27%
38,86%

B

21,68%
24,59%
31,05%
32,27%
35,12%
37,10%
41,47%
42,66%
43,50%
43,99%
48,68%

CH

-
-
4,08%
3,51%
2,05%
2,04%
3,58%
3,47%
5,94%
9,42%
9,25%

D

4,02%
4,57%
6,61%
.
.
.
.
17,07%
20,30%
23,08%
25,21%

DK

5,69%
5,40%
6,13%
5,41%
8,74%
7,76%
8,13%
7,85%
7,85%
12,57%
15,51%

E

3,60%
3,71%
4,16%
6,67%
9,94%
10,46%
13,20%
21,42%
31,84%
35,40%
40,94%

F

.
6,49%
7,09%
7,69%
9,87%
12,38%
15,20%
17,30%
21,57%
24,32%
26,27%

FIN

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
3,02%
9,39%
9,91%
12,68%

GR

.
.
.
.
.
.
5,59%
7,50%
12,37%
14,83%
10,35%

I

0,36%
0,46%
0,46%
0,45%
0,44%
0,43%
2,20%
3,13%
4,40%
7,36%
11,69%

IRL

11,46%
16,93%
17,39%
15,92%
20,81%
27,44%
30,70%
27,97%
33,11%
31,63%
30,75%

L

-

-

-

-

-

-

38,46%

47,62%

47,62%

40,00%

40,00%

N

6,78%

7,11%

7,25%

7,61%

7,61%

7,59%

9,37%

9,41%

9,30%

9,46%

9,39%

NL

-

-

-

-

3,49%

3,45%

3,41%

6,40%

6,35%

12,46%

12,39%

P

3,61%

4,31%

.

4,02%

6,74%

12,07%

15%
15%
16%
16%

18,91%

S

.

9,89%

.

.

13,36%

12,70%

12,71%

12,68%

12,91%

12,84%

13,88%

UK

.

25,13%

24,53%

27,30%

27,56%

30,88%

38,92%

46,27%

51,03%

53,93%

56,22%

Within Western Europe itself marked differences are to be seen.
In countries like Belgium and Great Britain multiplexes developed earlier than they did in Spain and far earlier than in Italy. On some markets the percentage of screens in multiplexes is now over 40% of total screen numbers (Luxembourg, Spain, Belgium, Great Britain).
In some countries the more traditional type of cinema (the single-screen theatre) has more or less disappeared (e.g. The Netherlands, 6,6% and Belgium, 10%), whilst in others it still plays an important role (e.g. Greece, 80%).
It is even more interesting to observe the performance of screens in multiplexes and the density of admissions to these screens.

Tab. 9: MULTIPLEXES: CONCENTRATION OF ADMISSIONS AND DENSITY OF SCREENS
(Western, Central and Eastern Europe)

 
1998
1999
2000
2001
 
density of screens
concentration
of admissions
density of screens
concentration
of admissions
density of screens
concentration
of admissions
density of screens
concentration
of admissions
A
20,28%
.
28,83%
.
33,27%
48,47%
38,86%
63,09%
B
42,66%
68,21%
43,50%
73,30%
43,99%
75,05%
48,68%
74,45%
CH
3,47%
5,27%
5,94%
.
9,42%
.
9,25%
.
D
17,07%
29,36%
20,30%
32,80%
23,08%
37,52%
25,21%
39,74%
DK
7,85%
16,78%
7,85%
16,71%
12,57%
24,97%
15,51%
27,55%
E
21,42%
29,82%
31,84%
37,68%
35,40%
47,56%
40,94%
53,39%
F
17,30%
30,75%
21,57%
36,18%
24,32%
41,15%
26,27%
45,16%
FIN
3,02%
.
9,39%
30,10%
9,91%
36,99%
12,68%
37,76%
I
3,13%
4,24%
4,40%
7,37%
7,36%
12,75%
11,69%
16,58%
IRL
27,97%
.
33,11%
.
31,63%
44,96%
30,75%
.
L
47,62%
79,74%
47,62%
80,95%
40,00%
78,76%
40,00%
76,05%
N
9,41%
20,61%
9,30%
21,09%
9,46%
21,02%
9,39%
20,65%
NL
6,40%
8,89%
6,35%
11,30%
12,46%
15,22%
12,39%
20,23%
S
12,68%
37,90%
12,91%
38,60%
12,84%
31,64%
13,88%
37,84%
UK
46,27%
.
51,03%
.
53,93%
.
56,22%
.

It can thus be seen that in Sweden and Finland the ratio between these two indicators is almost 1 to 3, in Denmark and Luxembourg almost 1 to 2. This seems to be a characteristic of the smaller markets.
Let us look at the bigger markets (those with at least 100 million tickets sold).
The degree of efficiency of multiplexes in France and Germany is fairly high. It is not so high in Spain.
Some other interesting observations emerge from a comparison of the change in the number of screens in multiplexes, the number of screens in general and the number of tickets sold.
Not in all countries is the percentage increase in ticket sales the same as, or higher than, the percentage increase in screen numbers.
This happens in Belgium and France but not in Italy.
In Central-Eastern Europe admissions increased more than screen numbers in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

Tab. 10: THE EVOLUTION OF ADMISSIONS, SCREENS AND SCREENS IN MULTIPLEXES
(Western Europe)

 
1991
2001
Var % 01/91
B Number of screens in multiplexes
93
240
+ 158%
Number of total screens
429
493
+ 15%
Total admissions in the country
16 535 146
24 000 000
+ 45%
D Number of screens in multiplexes
149
1 208
+ 711%
Number of total screens
3 706
4 792
+ 29%
Total admissions in the country
120 000 700
177 925 484
+ 48%
I Number of screens in multiplexes
8
374
+ 4 575%
Number of total screens
2 241
3 198
+ 43%
Total admissions in the country
84 851 197
105 537 586
+ 24%
 
1992
2001
Var % 01/92
E Number of screens in multiplexes
65
1 534
+ 2 260%
Number of total screens
1 807
3 747
+ 107%
Total admissions in the country
83 301 640
146 810 494
+ 76%
F Number of screens in multiplexes
279
1 377
+ 394%
Number of total screens
4 297
5 241
+ 22%
Total admissions in the country
115 995 000
185 816 369
+ 60%
UK Number of screens in multiplexes
443
1 826
+ 312%
Number of total screens
1 763
3 248
+ 84%
Total admissions in the country
98 045 238
155 910 781
+ 59%
 
1995
2001
Var % 01/95
NL Number of screens in multiplexes
17
70
+ 312%
Number of total screens
487
565
+ 16%
Total admissions in the country
17 183 515
23 787 086
+ 38%

Tab. 11: THE EVOLUTION OF ADMISSIONS, SCREENS AND SCREENS IN MULTIPLEXES
(Central and Eastern Europe)

 
1995
2001
Var % 01/95
CZ Number of screens in multiplexes
8
75
+838%
Number of total screens
817
749
-8%
Total admissions in the country
9 253 214
10 363 300
+12%
 
1996
2001
Var % 01/96
HU Number of screens in multiplexes
9
110
+ 1 122%
Number of total screens
550
622
+ 13%
Total admissions in the country
13 279 000
15 693 000
+ 18%
 
1998
2001
Var % 01/98
PL Number of screens in multiplexes
8
187
+ 2 238%
Number of total screens
714
852
+ 19%
Total admissions in the country
20 317 746
27 649 652
+ 36%

Several studies (some of which are also reported by MEDIA Salles in the newsletter European Cinema Journal or in the Cinema Research Library) show, however, that the establishment of multiplexes is only one of the elements that influence the increase in admissions.
In fact, the films on offer are also important in determining variations in admissions.
1998, for example, which recorded very high admissions throughout almost the whole of Europe, with the important exception of Great Britain, was characterised by the enormous success of Titanic.
Whilst I refer you to the following tables in order to gain an idea of how many films of what nationality were seen in Europe, I should like to make an observation regarding domestic films.

Tab. 12: BREAKDOWN OF ADMISSIONS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION BY FILM ORIGIN

 
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
US Films
71,6%
67,0%
77,5%
69,2%
73,3%
65,4%
71,2%
National films on their own market
17,1%
21,3%
14,4%
17,5%
15,7%
20,1%
19,5%
European films outside their own market
8,8%
10,7%
7,1%
11,3%
7,2%
11,0%
7,9%
Others
2,6%
1,1%
1,1%
2,0%
3,8%
3,5%
1,3%

Source: European Audiovisual Observatory, European cinema attendances stagnates as local films fail to travel,
Press release, Strasbourg, 4 May 2003, www.obs.coe.int (2002: provisional data).

Tab. 13: MARKET SHARES BY FILM ORIGIN IN WESTERN EUROPE - 2002
Tab. 14: MARKET SHARES BY FILM ORIGIN IN WESTERN EUROPE - 2001


* New releases only.

Tab. 15: MARKET SHARES BY FILM ORIGIN IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE - 2002


* New releases only.

Tab. 16: MARKET SHARES BY FILM ORIGIN IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE AND MEDITERRANEAN RIM - 2001


* New releases only. TR: percentage on admissions.

Tab. 17: MARKET SHARES OF DOMESTIC MOVIES

 
2001
2002
admissions
var% 02/01
B*
1,4%
1,3%
+ 2,3%
CH
2,7%
3,4%
+ 9,9%
DK
27,9%
24,1%
+ 8,3%
E
17,9%
13,7%
- 4,2%
F
41,7%
34,8%
- 0,7%
FIN*
10,1%
17,4%
+ 17,8%
I
19,3%
22,1%
+ 2,7%
N
15,2%
7,5%
- 3,5%
NL
9,5%
10,0%
+ 1,4%
S
22,5%
15,8%
+ 1,1%
CZ
10,4%
10,1%
+ 3,2%
EE*
3,2%
9,8%
+ 19,5%
HU
5,1%
7,8%
-5,80%
LV
0,6%
0,7%
- 7,1%
PL
41,8%
22,4%
- 2,0%
YU
28,2%
34,7%
- 0,8%

HU, PL: percentages on admissions.

In some territories the presence of domestic films with wide appeal is very important and apparently manages to attract extra audiences into the cinemas.
As an example we can look at what happened in 2001 on markets such as Germany, Norway and Poland.

Tab. 18: GERMANY

Total admissions in 2001:
178 m. (+16,6%)

 

From TOP 10 FILMS (by admissions):

1. Der Schuh des Manitu (DOM.):
10,5 m.
(5,9% of total admissions)

2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
10,4 m.

Tab. 19: NORWAY

Total admissions in 2001:
12,5 m. (+7,7%)

 
From TOP 10 FILMS (by admissions):
1. Elling (DOM.) 770 000
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 687 000
3. Bridget Jones' Diary 579 000
4. Cool and Crazy (DOM.) 556 000
% of top 2 DOM on total admissions: 10,6

Tab. 20: POLAND

Total admissions in 2001:
27,6 m. (+ 32,3%)

 
From TOP 10 FILMS (by admissions):
1. Quo vadis (DOM.) 4 276 674
2. W pustyni i w puszczy (DOM.) 2 221 137
3. Przedwioœnie (DOM.) 1 742 587
7. Wiedzmin (DOM.)    606 288
% of top 4 DOM on total admissions: 32%

Lying behind the decidedly significant increases in admissions compared to the previous year, is certainly the success of domestic films, such as, in Germany, "Der Schuh des Manitu" ( 10,5 million tickets sold, equal to 5,9% of the total), in Norway "Elling" and "Cool and Crazy" (1,3 million tickets sold, equal to 10,6% of the total) and in Poland "Quo vadis", "W pustyni I pusczy", "Przedwiosnie" and "Wiedzmin" (8,8 million tickets sold, equal to 32% of the total).

Unfortunately, what paralyses domestic films is the irregularity with which box-office successes are released. This irregularity also regards non-domestic European films. In some years very few titles are sufficient to attract large audiences; as an example, we can quote Spain in 1999, where a handful of titles, including "La vita è bella", "Notting Hill", "Astérix et Obélix contre César", managed to sell a total of around 22 million tickets out of an impressive 25,2 million for non-domestic European films.

Tab. 21: SPAIN

Total admissions of European films in 1999:
25,2 m.
(19,3% of total admissions)

Top European Films - 1999

Title
Year
released
Nationality
Distributor
Admissions
Gross Box Office
Prints
LA VITA È BELLA
1999
I
Lauren Films
4 145 559
2 582 956 371
209
NOTTING HILL
1999
UK, USA
Warner Sogefilms
3 354 932
2 065 342 924
254
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE
1999
UK, USA
UIP
2 870 252
1 807 374 719
210
ENTRAPMENT
1999
UK, D, USA
Hispano Fox Films
2 637 701
1 638 763 995
253
ASTÉRIX ET OBÉLIX CONTRE CÉSAR
1999
F, D, I
Columbia Tristar
2 132 801
1 399 077 088
265
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
1999
UK, USA
UIP
1 414 889
969 023 776
240
EYES WIDE SHUT
1999
UK, USA
Warner Sogefilms
1 405 992
910 642 160
255
LE DÎNER DE CONS
1999
F
Sherlock Media S. L.
627 505
418 345 236
66
EVER AFTER: A CINDERELLA STORY
1998
UK
Hispano Fox Films
599 173
356 382 633
216

In conclusion, what emerges from the figures is the necessity of taking into account several factors, of which we have provided some examples, in analysing increases in admissions.