Here’s some (admittedly qualified) good news to start the New Year. It’s a sign, or perhaps a hope, that an important part of our global cultural life may have begun to recover.
In some countries tens of millions of us still want to watch movies where they were meant to be seen – in the cinema. Up-to-date figures are being calculated right now but the signs are that more of us understand that great movies are made for the big screen, not for laptops, mobile phones or even home televisions.
In some countries, cinemas have begun to bounce back. The coronavirus pandemic was catastrophic for movie houses, theatres and live entertainment. Sport generally recovered quickly, but many cinemas closed forever. In the UK, after a post-pandemic drop of about 30 per cent in cinema audiences, last year’s figures rose to 126.5 million admissions. That’s a small but significant 2.3 per cent rise from 2023 although it’s still well below 2019's pre-pandemic total of 176.1 million admissions. Crucially, younger audiences (those under-35) are driving much of this growth and within the industry there is some optimism that cinemas are not dead – or not yet.
The Cinema Advertising Association (CAA) is – as the name suggests – the UK's trade body for cinema advertising. It calculates that under-35s make up half of those who go to British cinemas. Such younger audiences justify qualified optimism that a new generation still seeks big-screen entertainment. Of course, for reasons of cost or convenience, many of us at times choose the more solitary pleasure of a movie on a small screen, but that’s a poor substitute for night out with friends and the power of the big screen.
In France – a country with a proud tradition of cinema – the recovery has also been significant, reinforced by national pride. The Count of Monte Cristo released last year – for example – was huge hit with French viewers, and there has also been a strong national campaign to get audiences back. Germany, however, experienced a 6 per cent audience decline last year. Although 2025 figures across Europe are still being compiled, the biggest decrease in cinema-going was Ukraine. Crowded public venues are targets for Russian drones and bombs. Therefore – not surprisingly – they are avoided by many potential cinemagoers.
But what is concerning Hollywood is that the measurable British and French enthusiasm from live audiences has not been reflected in the US itself. American concert-goers, diners and holidaymakers began to return to their favourite cultural and recreational spaces after the pandemic, but cinema audiences have not recovered. Box Office Mojo reported last month that “in December 2015, domestic [US] box office revenue reached $1.3 billion; now, 10 years later, with a few days remaining in the month and no major releases remaining, it has fallen to $517 million”.
There are still blockbusters and, yes, there are still highly enjoyable low-budget art-house films but the mid-budget films that used to be the bread-and-butter of working Hollywood filmmakers are not pulling in audiences. Some reports suggest that approximately 3,000 American cinemas closed between 2019 and early 2023. Some large cities – Detroit for example, or Milwaukee – are reported to have lost their most prestigious multi-screen movie theatres. New Haven, Connecticut is said to have no commercial cinema at all.
After my own personal binge of movie-watching over the past couple of weeks in the run-up to the UK’s Bafta film and television awards, I can report that there are many astonishingly creative films that look and sound better on the big screen.
Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos's Bugonia, for example, is both the story of the kidnapping of a pharmaceutical company executive and an examination of those who are consumed by conspiracy theories. Bafta contender It Was Just an Accident – a witty, moving and thought-provoking film by the Iranian writer-director Jafar Panahi – won the Palme d’Or in Cannes last May. At times it has the pace of a thriller along with moments of bizarre comedy and provides an insight into the realities of life in modern Iran.
These excellent films – and dozens of others in contention at the Baftas and Oscars – are most impressive on the big screen. My own life as a cinema-goer began as a seven-year-old watching Saturday cowboy movies in my drafty local community hall in Scotland. I think millions of us across the world would shed a tear if and when the last cinema closes, although in these gloomy days of the British winter I understand the attractions of home viewing too.
Perhaps the partial recovery of cinema audiences, at least in the UK, is made even more wonderful by the fictional and yet true-to-life craziness of Hollywood as portrayed in the current TV series The Studio. Starring Seth Rogan, The Studio also features cameos by a stunning array of real stars and Hollywood directors including Martin Scorsese and others on the A-list. However you like your movies and wherever you watch them, there are signs that 2026 will see another feast of choice from filmmakers who understand it’s not just a business but a cultural gem too.
