12 August 2014
Locally made movies generated R33-million in revenue at South African cinemas in the first half of 2014, a 43% increase on the R23-million generated by homegrown productions in the first half of 2013, according to the latest South African Box Office Report.
The report, released at the weekend by the National Film and Video Foundation, showed that, of the 111 films released at the box office between 3 January and 28 June, 12 were South African productions.
Top earners over this period were mazing Spider Man 2 (R21.8-million), Rio 2 (R21.1-million) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (R16.9-million). Pad Na Jou Hart was best local performer, grossing over R11-million.
The report also revealed a correlation between gross revenue and the number of prints at release, with Pad Na Jou Hart having received the largest number of prints, compared to Elelwani and The Forgotten Kingdom, which received the lowest revenue but also the lowest number of prints at release.
According to the report, total gross revenue at South Africa’s cinema’s fell by 6%, from R408-million to R382-million, between the first half of 2013 and the first half of 2014.
Times Media (formerly Nu Metro) and Ster Kinekor had the largest market share with 46% and 36% respectively. This was followed by United International Pictures with 13% and Crystal Brook with 5%.
Indigenous Film Distributors received 1% of total market share, while distributing five out of the 12 local films on offer in the first half of the year. Ster Kinekor distributed four local movies, while Times Media and United International Pictures distributed two and one respectively.
In terms of earnings by genre, animation was the highest-grossing genre with R72-million, followed by action/adventure with R70-million and drama in third place with R59-million.
SAinfo reporter
