There were seven cinema establishments in 2020, including two in Gozo, with a total of 33 screens and a seating capacity of 2,262, the National Statistics Office said today.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, cinemas were closed between the 17th of March and the 16th of June.

During the remaining period, a total of 330 film titles and 18,733 screenings were exhibited in 2020, amounting to an average of 57 screenings per film.

The NSO noted that last year, cinemas registered a total of 165,475 admissions. Maltese productions, many of which belonged to the short film category, had 1,278 admissions with a total gross box office of €1,306 in 40 screenings.

On the other hand, foreign productions had 164,197 admissions with a total gross box office of €1,078,215 in 18,693 screenings.

Admissions to digital 3D movies accounted for just two per cent of the total, while the majority of admissions were for digital non-3D films at 98%.

Last year, 216 fiction films were screened in cinemas across Malta and Gozo. Films falling under this category attracted 87.1% of total admissions. On their part, animation films amounted to 29 and attracted 10.6% of total admissions, the NSO said.

The NSO said that the most popular film titles last year, were ‘Jumanji: The Next Level,’ ‘Bad Boys for Life’ and ‘1917’ amounting to 7.7%, 6.3% and 5.2% of total admissions respectively.

In terms of age classification, most films shown in Maltese cinemas were rated as ‘12A’ and ‘15’. 26.1% of the films projected in 2020 were rated as ‘12A.’ while 25.4% were rated as ‘15.’ On the other hand, just 5.1% were rated as ‘18.’

The running time of 56.4% of the films projected in 2020, fell within the 76 to 120 minutes bracket. These were followed by screenings with a duration of 121 to 180 minutes, amounting to 29.4%.

The NSO said that as per type of screening, the ‘Live/Encore’ type of screenings, including operas, ballets, and theatre, had the longest running time with an average of 163 minutes. On the other hand, animation films were the shortest with an average running time of 77 minutes.

With reference to the number of staff members, last year, the NSO noted that cinemas were found to be employing an average of 102 persons, of which 72.7% were engaged on a part-time basis.

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