Steven Spielberg’s new film, Fabelmans, was released in Greece last Thursday and has entered the Oscar conversation forever. It’s a great movie that theoretically appeals to young and old alike, plays in both multiplexes and independent theaters, has an all-star cast, and has received rave reviews from critics. Despite all this, the box office for the first week of screenings was only 7,833 tickets in 81 theaters across the country, which is less than 100 tickets per week per cinema.

“It is the so-called feature films that suffer the most these days, even if they have a Spielberg stamp. The people who saw them, most of them somewhat older, have not yet returned to the cinemas, and now even good reviews have little effect on attendance. Marvel movies, for example, will attract a lot more viewers regardless of the critics,” says Ilias Georgiopoulos, owner of the Danaos cinema where Fabelmans opened (also rather disappointing).

half tickets

But that’s not all. The whole of November closes for Greek ticket offices with less than 300,000 tickets. Tellingly, the same month of 2019, just before the pandemic, closed with 675,795 tickets, more than double the year (2019) when 9,570,000 tickets were sold in Greece. A month before the end of 2022, the corresponding figure is 4,978,305 people. Approximately 3 million tickets in 2021 and almost absolute silence in 2020 intervened. Only summer cinemas have been moving at a quite satisfactory level for all three years.

“Summer time is much better because people take it as an outlet: they drink beer on the street, they watch movies. In winter, the habit of “sitting in front of a screen and watching animated images” occurs indoors, where various platforms now offer everything. The same applies to crowded theatres, because they offer something that others cannot find in any other way,” notes Mr. Georgiopoulos.

The numbers show that the world has not returned to winter theaters – 2022 will close with almost 5 million tickets, while double that was cut in 2019.

The owner of Trianon, Michalis Zeis, shares a similar opinion: “I have the impression that people have lost interest in what is happening in the cinema, and this is most disturbing. Personally, I constantly get into conversations where everyone is absorbed in playing on the platforms, completely ignoring the room. Perhaps in the end, cinema will become something like vinyl, a relatively expensive product that will be consumed by somewhat more “sophisticated” viewers. I believe that the wobble we are experiencing will eventually balance out, but it is the market that will determine the new state of cinemas. In general, we experienced this situation to a certain extent in the 1980s and 1990s with the advent of video clubs, which closed several cinemas, especially in the Patishen area. However, things straightened out later. Something similar can happen now, also because cinema as an art without theater loses its foundation.”

Operating costs

Then there are exorbitant operating costs that make things worse. At the moment, winter cinemas, especially single-screen ones, bring in little income compared to the space they occupy. A cinema like the Trianon requires at least 2,000 euros a month for heating, plus vastly increased electricity bills and utility bills that are high for the square footage, Zeiss tells us. “If the cinema is privately owned, you start to think that such a large space can be rented, for example, by a supermarket chain and make a decent profit. This is exactly what happened to Oscar in Kato Patisia”; or become hotels, we might add, as rumors have recently circulated about the buildings housing the Ideal and Astor, with the owner EFKA assuring the continued use of specific spaces. .

self-critical

Trianon last Saturday on view at 20:00. The train film Menu, starring Ralph Fiennes and Anya Taylor-Joy, sold 28 tickets. An interesting discussion about the future of cinema in Greece, in the context of the 35th Panorama of European Cinema, took place there the day before. Participants included Giannis Economides, who, citing the state’s “permanent hostility to film and business in general”, called for self-criticism. In particular, the Greek director spoke about the need to improve the conditions of the cinema (seats, foyers, toilets, etc.), as well as to attract an audience focused (including) on ​​tourists who now regularly visit the capital.

“Really, the big bet is to get people back in the gym. We try to do this by organizing live performances, stand-up comedies, organizing festivals. Recently we were helped by a general entrance ticket for 2 euros “cinema day”. The viewer will come to see the trailers, see your space, and if they are well taken care of and you offer them a good experience, they may want to come back soon,” notes owner Danaos, adding: “This year at least we have regular schedule, great movies are coming out that would otherwise make us optimistic about winter. Now we’ll just try to get through.”