For fans of cinema, 2023 would have largely been viewed as a success.
Barbie and Oppenheimer saw floods of fans heave into theatres in numbers which had not been seen since the pandemic.
Writers’ strikes may have halted the release of some hotly anticipated titles, but a strong pipeline of films in the second half, as well as a rise in the popularity of concert films, kept theatres busy and moviegoers engaged.
Barbie fever Source: Hollywood Reporter
Troubles remain
For investors in cinema, 2023 was a repeat of the years before… a failure.
Retail investors who had bought shares in Cineworld, one of the only London-listed cinema stocks, would have closed the year out penniless after the company fell into administration and shares were delisted as part of a restructuring plan.
AMC Entertainment, the US cinema chain which also owns Odeon, lost around 90% of its market value, while Everyman, the luxury theatre operator, lost around a fifth of its value.
While film fans and investors would have cheered the exposure Barbenheimer brought to the industry, investors would have been less than pleased to see Hollywood strikes take place soon after, halting any consumer momentum.
However, with the strikes settled and the pipeline of films improving, Vue, Europe’s largest independent cinema operator, is confident about the industry’s prospects.
Good fortunes on the horizon
On Saturday, it was revealed that Vue shareholders and lenders were in the process of undergoing a debt-for-equity swap – for the second time in around 18 months.
Under the proposition, £50 million would be injected into the company in return for converting debt worth hundreds of millions into equity.
It is believed this deal is to give the company stable footing as the industry improves.
Vue's founder and chief executive, Tim Richards, told reporters: "We are in discussions with our shareholders and lenders to ensure the business has the right capital structure to thrive and maximise exciting opportunities ahead once the pipeline of new content improves later this year and in 2025."
Industry sources believe Richards is still interested in consolidation in the industry, having seen a deal for Vue to purchase parts of Cineworld fall through last year.
In 2019, Vue acquired its way to become the top European cinema operator and began a sales process to capitalise on this, but the deal was cut short after the pandemic decimated the industry.
Big movie catalysts
With the Hollywood strikes a thing of the past, the pipeline for upcoming films in 2024 has improved.
Dune 2 had been predicted to be one of 2023’s biggest hits and was expected to follow on from the success of the first film.
Timothee Chalamet in Dune 2 Source: Digital Spy
As fans will know, it was hurt badly by the strikes and is now scheduled for release in March.
Featuring some of the biggest actors in Hollywood like Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, Florence Pugh and Barry Keoghan, the hype for the film has been building for quite some time.
A third instalment in the Deadpool franchise will try to ignite some excitement in the superhero genre, which suffered from a year of flops in 2023.
Also set for release is: a Gladiator sequel; Wicked Part 1, a film based on the musical; a new Lion King story; Mickey17, the Parasite director’s newest film; and Madame Web, a Spiderman spinoff.
A glaring issue
Despite the strong pipeline, which Vue is confident will improve in 2025, there is one word which will still terrify most cinema executives… streaming.
While streaming services continue to undergo their own cost-cutting techniques to protect against a slowdown in business, they still hold huge power over the industry.
Late last year, movie fans began to sing the praises of Saltburn, a film which had been heavily advertised in cinemas prior to its release on 16 November.
Saltburn 2023 Source: swim press
However, those late to the party would likely have saved some money and a trip as the film was added to Amazon Prime Video just over a month later.
The time between a box office release and a film being added to streaming services is growing shorter, meaning film fans are often being left with only Hollywood blockbusters or lower-budget projects.
While the Hollywood blockbusters are left in cinemas for multiple months, viewers have left poorly produced flops which have been rejected by streaming platforms and are looking to extract as much money as possible before disappearing forever.
Cocaine Bear, Five Nights at Freddy’s, The Exorcist: Believer and Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey are just a few of these types of films.
Whether the cinema companies can steal back some hits from the streaming services will be vital to their success.