Cinema screen numbers in Australia 2023

Australian cinema screens were mostly independently owned in 2023; a total of 660 screens nationwide were independents. This was more than the two largest cinema chains, Hoyts and VIllage, who owned 268 screens and 206 screens respectively.

Attendance and ticket prices

These independently owned screens will have partly helped to maintain steady attendance, which has historically remained around 70 percent per year. Attendance nearly reached this figure again in 2019. However, the attendance rates in 2020 and 2021 dropped drastically due to mandatory closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years there have only been small fluctuations in both average and maximum cinema ticket prices. The average cinema ticket price in 2021 was 15.24 Australian dollars; an increase of around one dollar from 2020. Average prices have increased by less than five dollars overall since 2007. The maximum ticket price in 2013 and 2014, as well as in 2017 and 2018, was 27 Australian dollars. In other years, prices settled between 23 and 25 dollars, despite a peak in 2011 of 28.50 Australian dollars.

Box office revenue

The recent increase in popularity of the prolific Marvel films, as well as other blockbuster releases, has been a huge driver in attendance over the last few years. Consistent attendance will have kept ticket prices stable, and vice versa, which is integral to the maintenance and growth of independent cinemas. Two of the most successful 2021 films at the box office were Marvel productions; Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Black Widow, taking total box office revenue of 9.42 and 9.18 million U.S. dollars respectively.