MADRID — In what looks like a transition year to a more robust 2019, Spain’s box office broadly held last year, edging down just 1.9% in cinema theater gross and 2.0% in admissions, according to a ComScore report, published Wednesday.
In all, Spain’s B.O. gross came in at €585.7 million ($673.1 million), while cinema tickets sold totaled 97.7 million.
Released by Universal Pictures Intl., which dominated last year in Spain with three of the seven top-grossing movies, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” topped Spain’s 2018 B.O. chart, the fourth time a non-Spanish production has done so this decade. Even in this case, last year’s “Jurassic World” was directed by a Spaniard, J.A. Bayona, making for the director’s fourth No. 1 annual champion in a row in Spain since his feature debut, “The Orphanage” in 2007, a clean sweep which may be some kind of international box office record.
“Fallen Kingdom” world premiered in Madrid, as “Coco” world premiered in Mexico in 2017. “Bayona’s Spanish nationality undoubtedly helped ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” to its No. 1 ranking,” Rodríguez said.
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Even so, Fox’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” will run “Fallen Kingdom” a pretty close second, earning €22.1 million ($25.4 million) at Spanish theaters last year.
2018’s top grossing Spanish movie was Javier Fesser’s comedy “Champions,” Spain’s Foreign-Language Academy Award, which turns on an off-the-emotional-rails’ trainer assigned to a basketball team made up of special needs players. It proves his salvation.
In a bigger picture, “2018 sustains a longer-term recuperation of the Spanish box office, starting in 2014. This year’s dip is not really alarming, given the soccer World Cup last year,” said David Rodríguez, managing director, ComScore Spain.
Rodríguez also suggested several reasons for optimism about the future. Hollywood hits in Spain have largely been action franchise installments or family-targeting big animation plays. But last year’s Top Ten also took in a genre title, “The Nun,” which grossed €10.6 million ($12.2 million) for Warner Bros., Rodríguez noted.
Rodriguez added that Spain has begun to benefit from an overhaul upgrade of its cinema theater sector, seen at the AMC-owned Cinesa, Cinepolis’ Yelmo Cines and Belgium’s Kinepolis Group.
The first Yelmo Cines Luxury complex opened in San Sebastián de los Reyes’ Plaza Norte 2 in November 2017, a Yelmo Cines Premium theater in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria a month later.
Cinesa has opened two Cinesa Luxe complexes, featuring reclining seats and a gourmet menu and a unique ScreenX 270% triple-wall projection system at one of them, the Cinesa Luxe Equinoccio in Madrid’s Majadahonda suburb. Belgium’s Kinepolis bowed its first 4DX cinema in Spain in La Ciudad de la Imagen in December 2017.
“Spain’s major exhibition chains are competing, investing in new complexes and renovating others. With the potential strength of 2019’s release lineup, that suggests a powerful combination for 2019,” Rodríguez argued.
Though no title matched the heights of “Spanish Affair’s”” $77.5 million in 2014, like its Hollywood counterpart, Spanish cinema showed some strength in depth – the tonic of the Spanish box office in general over the last two years – with 10 titles punching over €3.0 ($3.5) million. Total market share for national films was 17.5%, according to ComScore.
That’s just above the average for the last few years. Success for Spanish movies may be proving slightly less predictable than earlier this decade, however, when charts were dominated almost exclusively by titles co-produced and promoted by the film production arms of Spain’s top two commercial broadcasters, Mediaset España and Atresmedia, and distributed by a Hollywood studio.
Spain’s second highest-grossing title, “Superlópez,” co-produced by Mediaset España’s Telecinco Cinema, fits that bill. “Campeones,” however,was a sleeper breakout, co-financed by public broadcaster RTVE. Two other titles in the Spanish movie Top Ten were released by top Spanish independent A Contracorriente Films. Eight of Spain’s Top Ten were, however, still co-produced or acquired by either Telecinco Cinema or Atresmedia Cine.
Emilio Mayorga contributed to this article.
TOP TEN HITS, SPAIN, 2018
Title, Distributor, B.O. Gross, Admissions
1.”Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” UPI, €24.2 million ($ 27.9 million) 3.9 million;
2.”Bohemian Rhapsody,” Fox, €22.1 million ($25.4 million); 3.6 million.
3.”Incredibles 2,” Disney, €21.1 million ($24.3 million); 3.7 million
4.”Avengers: Infinity War,” Disney, €20.5 million ($23.6 million); 3.4 million;
5.Champions,” UPI, €19.1 million ($22.0 million); 3.3 million
6.”Hotel Transylvania 2,” Sony, €13.4 million ($15.5 million); 2.4 million;
7.”50 Shades of Liberation,” UPI, €12.2 million ($14.0 million); 2.0 million;
8.”The Meg,” Warner Bros., €11.0 million ($12.7 million); 1.8 million;
9.”Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” Warner Bros. €10.9 million ($12.5 million); 1.7 million;
10.”The Nun,” Warner Bros., €10.6 million ($12.2 million); 1.8 million.
TOP TEN SPANISH MOVIE HITS, 2018
1. “Champions,” UPI, €19.1 million ($21.8 million); 3.3 million;
2. “Superlópez,” Disney, €10.3 million ($11.9 million); 1.7 million;
3. “Perfect Strangers,” UPI, €8 million ($9.2 million); 1.3 million;
4. “The Best Summer of My Life,” A Contracorriente, €7.9 million ($9 million); 1.4 million;
5. “The Tribe,” Fox, €6.1 million ($7.0 million); 1 million;
6. “Sarah’s Notebook,” Disney, €5.2 million ($5.9 million); 845,209;
7. “Yucatan,” Fox, €5.1 million ($5.8 million); 916,697;
8. “Empowered,” A Contracorriente, €4.5 million ($5.1 million); 720,212;
9. “The Footballest,” PPI, €3.4 million ($3.9 million); 638,060;
10. “Everybody Knows,” UPI, €3.1 million ($3.5 million); 570,326.