DESPITE the roll-out of its new 4DX cinematic experience, a lacklustre movie schedule short on the usual action-packed line-up for the summer has been cited among the top reasons for the less-than-favourable results seen by cinema operator Palace Amusement Company Limited over its last financial year that ended June 30, 2024.

In its latest unaudited financial numbers, revenues for the full year to June 30 fell to $1.39 billion and net profit plunged to $71.9 billion — 68 per cent less than last year.

The slow release of blockbuster films for most of the year also sent fourth-quarter profits for the company back into the red. Revenues for the fourth quarter totalled $298.7 million — 38 per cent below that of the corresponding period in 2023. After earning over $224 million in net profit during the April-June quarter last year, the company at the end of the corresponding period this year realised a loss of $51.4 million.

“What has helped our performance from going even further south is the one, one bigger pictures that we sometimes get, but the usual line-up of blockbusters that we usually have, we just didn’t have this year. We’ve been getting a whole lot of horror, and our local patrons prefer good action films,” Marketing Manager and Director Melanie Graham told the Jamaica Observer.

“We should have had a better line-up but almost every month there was a delay with some of the movies we were expecting to be released this year,” she further said to the Business Observer.

The showing of films such as Bob Marley: One Love at the start of this year — among a few others which brought record turnout to theatres and positively added to box office receipts — was just not enough to keep up with last year’s performance that delivered extraordinary releases like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Avatar 2; and Fast X: Part 1.

Box office receipts during Palace’s last financial year amounted to $825.3 million — representing a $24.5-million reduction when compared to the previous year. Year-to-date attendance when compared to the previous year also reflects a decrease of approximately 23 per cent or some 154,000 patrons.

Still reeling from the effects of last year’s Hollywood strike which saw both writers and actors staying off the job for months, the lag in the industry’s recovery pace continues to negatively affect a number of releases, with players globally indicating that it could take some time before things get back to normal. This, even as new challenges such as artificial intelligence (AI) and streaming continue to offer competition.

Those issues, further exacerbated by the continued inflationary pressures of the global environment, also see key stakeholders being affected. To this end patrons, in opting to exercise frugality, limit their visits to the cinema while cinema operators struggle to fill seats and manage overhead costs. Major producers and distributors on the other hand are also sometimes forced to slow down the release of expected pictures as they too encounter financial hurdles in completing films.

Touted a silver-lining for the business, the launch of the new 4DX technology by Palace comes at a good time for the dreary movie circuit. Since the short time of its roll-out the screen demand and interest for the 112-seater auditorium four at Carib 5 theatre has maintained an 87 per cent occupancy level, auguring well for current and future patronage.

Said to be highly capital-intensive, the expensive technology which was unveiled to the public in June offers a theme-park-like experience, connecting audiences with films through a blend of motion, water, wind, snow and other special effects, helping to enhance the visuals on screen.

The release of Bad Boys 4: Ride or Die on June 6, which coincided with its launch and allowed patrons locally, for the first time, to experience the technology, is said to have contributed almost 30,000 or 28 per cent to the quarter’s overall attendance numbers.

“We are very grateful for 4DX; though a breakout is not shown in the numbers this is one of our latest initiatives which has done well for the business. The single auditorium that we have converted for use of the technology has really been doing well, causing us to wish we had more rooms to show these types of films. We would surely love to have more rooms ready but that depends on the available cash, which is just not there right now,” Graham said, while indicating that the main focus of the company at the moment is to honour its debt repayments, most of which it picked up during the COVID-19 pandemic period as it sought to keep the business afloat.

With the strikes now ended and some semblance of normalcy expected as early as next year, the company said it is hoping for the rescheduling and release of some previously delayed pictures, to impact the box office and attendance numbers more positively in its next financial year.

“Once we have a better line-up of films it will be our job to get the people back into the cinema as this business is really product-driven — the appetite for specific movies is what drives people to come to the cinema,” Graham added.

Among the list of upcoming films from which Palace is expecting strong attendance are
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Transformers One in September; Joker: Folie A Deux and
Venom: The last dance in October; Gladiator II and Moana 2 in November, as well as
Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Mufasa: The lion king in December.

“We’re also now concentrating on rentals, using the spaces of the auditorium to host a number of events and private showings,” Graham further noted.

Highlighting these and other strategies being used to boost revenues, the return of National Cinema Day this year, the marketing manager said, is to come as another of those activities from which the company also wants to increase cinema traffic.

First held in September last year with the expectation for it to be a one-off event, National Cinema Day day saw a slashing of prices, with seats across all of Palace’s circuit of cinemas being retailed at $450. The staging, which saw packed auditoriums and long lines at concessionary stands, brought the expected business boost to the cinemas globally — including the local industry which suffered severe financial fallout from the curtailing of entertainment activities during COVID-19.

“When the distributors saw the effect on the numbers last year they have decided to make it an annual thing. I’m still not yet sure of the date, as they tend to keep that information close to their chest, but I know for sure that it will come sometime during the remainder of this year,” Graham said.