It only took five days for Spider-Man: No Way Home to become the highest-grossing film of 2021. Overcoming even the wave of contagions caused by the omicron variant, the release of the Tom Holland-led franchise has risen to the quintessential Christmas plan around the world, filling the seats with a frenzy worthy of other times. In Spain, according to data from Comscore, we have to go back to 2019 to find a week with more than two million and three hundred thousand viewers, and worldwide has reaped the third best premiere weekend in history.
Even Pedro Almodóvar, during his visit to the Late Motiv program, called the film the “savior of the industry” and anticipated his visit to a session in gratitude. However, the ray of hope – and economic relief – that the Marvel movie is not hiding the critical state of the film industry in 2021. Unable to recover most of the viewers lost with the film. start of the pandemic and facing a change in consumption habits that endangers its mere existence, will cinemas survive in the current situation?
“The Covid has been an earthquake for the foundations of the industry and also for us,” admits Fernando Lobo, head of communications for Cinemas Embajadores. The promoter of one of the youngest cinemas in Madrid, which opened in the summer of 2020 after delaying the opening by the first wave, describes the current state of the sector as a “survival issue”. “The balance since the opening is positive, but one always has a part of resentment, of bitterness, because the industry is not recovering and people are not just back in the room. Many people are still afraid to go to the movies, especially the older ones, ”he added.
The data confirms their feelings. The fall in film market revenue compared to 2019 is 60%, with those over 35 – especially women – as the most reluctant to regain the habit, a key demographic stratum for neighborhood cinemas and / or independent. Ann Sarnoff, CEO of Warner Bros., recently argued that for the industry to return to its roots they need the return “of the whole spectrum of ages and tastes” and that currently only “action movies, superheroes and terror », made for a less fearful public to the contagion, were able to sell tickets.
Polarization is not an exclusive feature of the current socio-political landscape: at the global box office, adrenaline-fueled franchises like Fast & Furious, James Bond and the entire Marvel superhero range rise as the only hits of the course. Will the cinematic experience end up being a barrier to anything other than a big blockbuster, the so-called “movie-event”? In the absence of an answer, the truth is that products designed for a more adult audience such as West Side Story, El último duelo, La casa Gucci or Última noche en el Soho have not met the expected collection expectations.
The absence of audiences more akin to mid- and low-budget productions, in genres such as drama, musicals or comedy, has hit independent companies hard in the industry. In the Spanish distributor and producer A contracorriente, a market reference for the last decade, they opted to release their films in theaters despite the “smart” at the business level, as did many of the producers , was to run away from the traditional exhibition and sell its catalog on the platforms. “Unfortunately, in 12 months we only get 800,000 viewers, but at least we take these viewers to the cinemas. If we want them to continue to exist in 2022 or 2023, we must be with them now, ”said Eduardo Escudero, his Business Director.
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