Spanish cinema resists in 2018 | Culture
After a long walk, the Spanish cinema has stopped. The figures say it, although it is not necessarily a negative news: the numbers published today by the consultancy Comscore offer smiles and tears, depending on what they want to analyze. National films raised 102.5 million in theaters in 2018, which means a market share of 17.5%, almost identical to the one in 2017 (17.4%). The box office in general entered 585.7 million, with 97.7 million tickets sold and a decrease of around 2% both in revenue and in viewers with respect to the previous year.
And here the interpretations begin. It can be argued that access to both theaters and the Spanish cinema resists and is maintained. Or even celebrate that the terrifying 2013 - when the national films raised 70 million and the cinema in general 506 - remains as the memory of a distant nightmare. But it is also worth recalling the 2014 record of Spanish cinema - it supposed one out of every four tickets sold - and that the number of shows in Spain grew continuously between 2014 and 2016, until reaching 101.8 million viewers, And now it's been frozen for two years. Hence, the break can serve to reinforce current certainties, analyze the weaknesses and prepare for a 2019 where Pedro Almodóvar, Isabel Coixet, Alejandro Amenábar and Paco Plaza, among others, return.
Undoubtedly, of course, the success of Champions: raised 19 million euros and seduced 3.2 million attendees, more than twice the second most watched Spanish film, Superlopez. The film by Javier Fesser, which faces the Goya as the favorite status and 11 nominations, also managed to climb to the summit without the support of the two private television giants, Telecinco and Atresmedia, producers of the vast majority of the recent blockbusters of Spanish cinema. Everybody knows, by Asghar Farhadi, is the only other Goya nominee for best film that entered the top ten of collections. The kingdom, Between two waters Y Carmen and Lola they attracted academics but less to the public.
Compared to other years, there is a greater distribution of income: in the absence of a Eight Basque surnames that monopolized the box office, five films (the other three are Perfect strangers, The best summer of my life and The tribe) exceeded one million tickets sold and up to 12 collected more than two million. The movie by Alex de la Iglesia about the secrets locked up in mobiles actually amounts to 20.7 million, between 2017 and 2018: that is, its total exceeds even Champions
The access to the cinema, yes, continues to be concentrated mainly in a handful of premieres. 70% of the public that watched national films chose the 10 most successful ones. And, in general in the halls, one out of every three spectators gave themselves to the 10 highest grossing films. This list, by the way, is also led by a Spaniard: Juan Antonio Bayona with Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom, that saw almost four million viewers. Just behind, Bohemian Rhapsody, after an overwhelming advance in the last weeks of the year.
The Comscore count confirms other trends from previous years. One third of the tickets were sold between Madrid (19.5%) and Barcelona (13.7%). And Saturday is the day of greatest access to theaters and the weekend brings together 58% of tickets sold, precisely when these are more expensive. Wednesday, the day of the spectator and discounts, is the second day of greatest affluence.
Faced with certain traditions, the future also throws up unknowns. As the potential of luxury cinemas, one of the bets of Yelmo and Cinesa for the survival of the halls. And, above all, the role of cinema on-line and Netflix. Just today the company announced that it will launch 90 films in 2019, including those of Coixet and Daniel Sánchez Arévalo. To know how many will be beyond the Internet.
World record
The movie theaters of the world face Netflix. Literally, since in many countries, from France to Italy, from the US to Mexico, they have staged tough confrontations with the company. But also in the results: the cinema box office registered a new global record, with more than 36,000 million euros collected, according to several specialized media. Faced with the rise of the great film producer for the hall, the traditional seventh art presumes that the rooms retain their power of seduction.
More than a quarter of the revenue (9.935 million) is due to the US, the main market of the planet, which also reaches the highest mark in its history. Although the most relevant data, net of the increase in prices, is the public: in the US rose almost 5% of tickets sold, up to 1,293 million, calculates the specialized website Box Office Mojo.
The highest-grossing film was Black Panther, followed by The Avengers: Infinity War (first, however, globally) and The incredible 2. Disney, the producer of the three, rubs her hands again.
China consolidates its position as the second film market in the world, with some 7,800 million raised, and an increase of 9% over 2017. And, more generally, the opening of hundreds of new movie theaters in Asia in recent years to explain the world record, according to the magazine Forbes.
