Barbenheimer weekend generates virtually £30m at UK field workplace
T
he twin choices of Barbie and Oppenheimer prompted the largest weekend for UK cinema-going since 2019, in accordance with the UK Cinema Association.
Greta Gerwig’s movie concerning the Mattel doll, performed by Margot Robbie, having an existential disaster and Christopher Nolan’s epic concerning the “father” of the atomic bomb, generated virtually £30 million on the UK field workplace, the group, which represents the pursuits of UK cinema operators, mentioned.
Cinema chain Vue mentioned a fifth of its clients had bought tickets to see each movies in a double invoice dubbed by social media as Barbenheimer.
More than 2,000 of Vue’s Barbie screenings had been bought out, in accordance with the corporate.
Tim Richards, chief government and founding father of Vue International, informed the PA news company: “We knew it was going to be a big weekend based on the advanced bookings, which were also the biggest since the pandemic.
“The numbers are phenomenal. We had over 500,000 customers come to Vue on the weekend alone. We had 4,000 sold-out sessions, 2,000 sold-out sessions for Barbie alone.
“But I think that it’s not just about Barbie and Oppenheimer, it’s just a return to cinema.
“Our customers never left us, we just haven’t had movies. If you look back in the last 12 months, we have set records with Avatar, one of the highest grossing movies in history.
“We’ve got Tom Cruise, at 60 years old, and Top Gun: Maverick delivered 1.5 billion dollars, the biggest movie of his career.
“And you look at smaller movies, you look at a black-and-white film, Belfast, to deliver one of the highest-grossing black-and-white films in the modern era.
“So it’s a supply issue, and not a demand issue – our customers are desperate to go out and watch a great movie with others.”
Richards mentioned Pixar movie Elemental, Cruise providing Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, and Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones finale Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny additionally acquired a bump this weekend, aided by the poor climate.
Cinemas now face the prospect of a halt within the provide chain as Hollywood’s writers and actors are on strike.
Richards mentioned that, whereas the summer time blockbusters have already been launched or are able to go, the consequences of the strike will probably be felt additional down the road.
He mentioned: “This does not feel or seem like a short-term issue, and the stakes are high on both sides. So we’re hoping for a short strike and a quick resolution.”
In the quick time period it’s the cost-of-living disaster that might pose a extra quick difficulty.
He mentioned: “We are a big consumer of energy and our costs have gone up, probably disproportionally, and we’ve done our very best not to pass those costs on to our customers because we are aware of the pressures that our customers are undergoing.
“We are aware of the difficulties they have and continue to have with high inflation, high utility costs, and it’s tough for everyone.
“For families we’ve got special pricing for Saturday and Sunday mornings, we have ticket prices at over half our cinemas at £4.99 and we’ve done our very best to make it as accessible as possible for our customers.”