The recent surge in cinema attendances, on the back of strong content, has seen average weekly cinema attendances more than double over the past four weeks.

According to Eric Blignaut, National Sales Manager at Ster-Kinekor, these numbers were driven largely by three top-performing titles: Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4, which together have also raked in over R60 million at the box office, to date.

“It is satisfying to see a big shift in audience numbers, thanks to a selection of great content that’s appealing to different audience profiles. For our advertisers, it’s further validation of their investment in the channel,” comments Blignaut.

“We all know cinema audiences have fewer distractions and are thus far more engaged with the content unfolding on the screen. Lumen’s Centre of Attention study translates what this means for our advertisers: they now have an audience that’s paying more attention to their message on the big screen than on any other video platform. And this is particularly true for longer format ads! So, for marketers tracking ‘completed views’ in an effort to engage with their customer more cost effectively, advertising in cinema is the optimum channel to deliver exactly that.”

With a slate of excellent titles being released over the second half of this year and into 2025, SK Sales is confident that this positive attendance trend will continue well into the new year. “What is exciting is the wide variety of films in different genres set for release on circuit, ensuring there really is something to appeal to everyone across our diverse audience profile,” says Blignaut.

Opening in cinemas over the next few weeks, movie lovers can look forward to Twisters, Long Legs, Fly Me to the Moon, It Ends with Us, and the much-anticipated Deadpool & Wolverine.

“It’s all about Beetlejuice in September, with the sequel to ‘Joker’, Joker: Folie À Deux, which sees Joaquin Phoenix reprising his role as the Joker, and Lady Gaga joining the cast as his love interest, releasing in October. As we head towards the year end and holidays, audiences will be spoilt for choice with titles including Gladiator 2, Wicked Part 1, and Disney’s Moana 2 and Mufasa: The Lion King, both of which will make for great family viewing.

“All this choice adds to the power of cinema advertising. Many advertisers have been with us for years and understand how the medium delivers on their brands’ objectives. But what is also encouraging is that we are attracting new advertisers and first-time brands onto our screens, which we believe is reaffirming cinema’s trajectory to recovery,” states Blignaut.