(Toronto) Taylor Swift drew large audiences to movie theaters around the world in late 2023, but that wasn’t enough to prevent Canada’s largest theater chain from posting a loss during its most recent quarter.
Cineplex announced Thursday that it suffered a loss of 9 million in the fourth quarter, compared to a profit of 10.2 million a year earlier.
The quarter ending Dec. 31 is a typically busy time for theatrical releases, as Oscar bait typically debuts in the second half of the year, but last year the entertainment industry faced several unique factors, including lengthy strikes in Hollywood that disrupted the film release schedule.
A strike by U.S. screenwriters stretched from May to September, while the country’s actors were on strike for nearly four months before approving a deal.
When pop star Taylor Swift surprised the industry in August by revealing plans to screen a film of her concert The Eras in theaters in October, this was good news for theaters – a view that Cineplex CEO Ellis Jacob still maintains.
He called 2024 “undeniably the year of Taylor Swift” during a conference call Thursday with analysts.
“Everyone was worried about where our business was going, and with the lack of content due to the strikes, (Swift’s film) was a great injection that brought out our customers in a big way,” he said. he later stated in an interview.
Based on box office, the film was number one at Cineplex in the fourth quarter and the biggest concert film of all time.
It contributed to Cineplex’s fourth-quarter revenue, which reached 315.1 million, up from 309.9 million in the last three months of 2022.
Box office revenue per customer was $12.90, down 1.2% from $13.06 a year earlier, while food service revenue per customer was $9.28, up from $8.93 in the same quarter in 2022.
The increase in food service revenue per customer came as theater attendance reached 9.6 million, up from 9.2 million a year earlier.
Mr. Jacob believes audiences will continue to flock to theaters as Hollywood returns to its old pace of movie releases and films delayed because of the strike – Challengers with Zendaya and Dune: part two by Quebecois Denis Villeneuve – have their release dates confirmed.
Cineplex will also show highly anticipated films like BeetlejuiceBeetlejuice, The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim, Hateful me 4 And Mufasa: The Lion King later this year.
With many of these titles arriving in the final months of 2024, Mr. Jacob said that “the fourth quarter at this point looks very strong compared to 2023.”
Cineplex ended 2023 with the screening of Renaissance: a Beyoncé film, Ferrari, Wonka, The iron claw And Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
The company’s next quarter will cover a refinancing plan announced Thursday aimed at improving its financial flexibility and reducing the dilutive impact of its convertible debentures.
Also to be considered is a lawsuit from the Competition Bureau, which alleges that Cineplex used deceptive marketing to advertise movie tickets at a price lower than many consumers actually pay.
During the conference call with analysts, Mr. Jacob called the allegations “baseless” and said Cineplex would “vigorously defend” against class action lawsuits related to ticket prices.