Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/846769
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 JULY 2017 12 News 0 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% CRITICAL REVIEW GROSS BOX OFFICE MALTA (€) Top 20 most grossing movies shown in Maltese cinemas in 2015 and 2016 (opposite) in order of critical reception and box office earnings BY MATTHEW VELLA • CONCEPT SLOW-JOURNALISM.COM • DATA NSO.GOV.MT In need of a Bond movie In 2015 Hollywood thrillers took the box office, but a year later Maltese cinemagoers dwindled by 4.4% and animated movies sold the popcorn at the cinemas SPECTRE €286,831 FAST& FURIOUS €233,398 MINIONS €189,965 50 SHADES OF GRAY €178,670 JURASSIC WORLD €163,097 STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS €151,256 THE MARTIAN €61,843 INSIDE OUT €87,930 AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON €115,047 CINDERELLA €93,276 PAN €47,736 PIXELS €59,327 TAKEN 3 €87,371 HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 €76,936 SAN ANDREAS €70,755 NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM €51,391 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE ROGUE NATION €86,851 KINGSMAN €74,654 ANTMAN €63,026 CRITICAL SUCCESS FLOPS GENRES ACTION/ADVENTURE ANIMATION COMEDY THRILLER DRAMA FANTASY HORROR ROMANCE SCI-FI WAR TOP 20 BOX OFFICE 2015 €2,236,757 Top 20 movies in 2016 Box Office Admissions Rotten Tomatoes Rating Suicide Squad €164,406 20,785 25% Finding Dory €155,295 28,053 94% Deadpool €154,189 21,865 84% Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them €147,739 19,931 73% The Jungle Book €125,200 20,949 95% Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice €117,483 14,831 27% The Secret Life of Pets €107,986 21,023 74% Captain America: Civil War €91,509 11,922 90% Moana €86,530 16,847 96% Trolls €81,792 16,379 74% Alvin and the Chipmunks: the Road Chip €75,136 15,979 16% Zootopia €72,803 14,008 98% Bridget Jones's Baby €71,518 10,292 76% Doctor Strange €71,324 9,904 90% Daddy's Home €70,021 11,355 31% The Legend of Tarzan €60,699 9,544 35% Star Wars Rogue One €59,648 6,902 85% Star Wars: The Force Awakens €57,086 8,108 89% Central Intelligence €53,270 9,341 69% Inferno €53,204 7,767 19% Top 20 movies in 2015 Box Office Admissions Rotten Tomatoes Rating Spectre €286,831 41,369 62% Fast & Furious 7 €233,398 36,965 83% Minions €189,965 37,139 49% Fifty Shades of Grey €178,670 26,382 42% Jurassic World €163,097 24,195 78% Star Wars: The Force Awakens €151,256 18,618 89% Avengers: Age of Ultron €115,047 16,068 84% Cinderella €93,276 18,635 78% Inside Out €87,930 17,378 98% Taken 3 €87,371 14,686 44% Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation €86,851 14,384 87% Hotel Transylvania 2 €76,936 15,127 64% Kingsman: The Secret Service €74,654 12,008 84% San Andreas €70,755 11,076 52% Ant-Man €63,026 9,966 86% The Martian €61,843 8,847 91% Pixels €59,327 10,423 46% The Hunger Games: MockingJay - Part 2 €57,396 7,317 70% Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb €51,391 12,018 57% Pan €47,736 8,842 27% MATTHEW VELLA 2016 saw fewer people patronising Maltese cin- emas, as a clear comparison of the top 20 grossing movies in Malta shows the effect that a big movie franchise can have on admission numbers. Admissions to cinemas dropped by 4.4 per cent in 2016 over 2015, reaching 673,487. Nearly a quarter of these cinemagoers chose a 3D-film, data released this week by the National Statistics Office shows. Perhaps the most glaring difference between the top 20 grossing movies of 2015 and 2016 is how movie franchises like James Bond and the Fast & Furious affect admissions: in 2015 Spectre and Fast & Furious 7 respectively grossed €286,831 and €233,398, and attracted 41,369 and 36,965 patrons to the big screen. In 2016, the top two grossing movies Suicide Squad and Finding Dory grossed €164,406 and €155,295 respectively, and attracted just 20,785 and 28,053 patrons. Indeed a cursory glance at the top 20 movies of both years shows how shorn of the big movie fran- chise, 2016's top movies were mainly animated films, which tend to attract a sizeable matinee crowd for children and parents, as well as comic book hero adaptations. However, it must be said that over 2015 and 2016, a top grossing movie would have been Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Taken over both years, the film grossed over €208,000 and attracted over 26,100 pa- trons to cinemas. Eeight cinema establishments were open to the public during 2016, two of which in Gozo, having a total of 35 screens and a seating capacity of 6,771. A total of 391 new film titles were proposed in 2016, an increase of 16 films over 2015. 74.8 per cent of cinemagoers watched films origi- nating from the United States reaching 503,975, while 144,638 cinemagoers (21.5 per cent) watched a film originating from an EU country.