In a promising sign of recovery, the box office in Spain experienced a significant surge of 31% in 2023, reaching €487.5 ($541.1 million). However, this is still 18.2% below the pre-pandemic average of €596 million ($661.6 million) from 2015 to 2019.
A Consistent Recovery
David Rodríguez, the General Manager for Spain and Portugal at Comscore Movies, stated that 2023 marked the third consecutive year of box office recovery in Spain. Despite this positive trend, Spain’s box office performance still lags behind countries like France, Germany, and especially the United Kingdom. Rodríguez attributes this disparity to the fact that Northern European economies were stronger, and COVID-19 restrictions on cinema attendance lasted longer in Spain and Italy.
Impacted by Hollywood Delays
The worldwide impact of Hollywood’s delay in releasing key movies until 2024 and 2025 also affected the Spanish box office. Rodríguez explained that this double strike created turbulence, frustrating a more powerful box office rally in Spain. It is predicted that a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels will not occur until 2025.
Success Stories at the Spanish Box Office
Despite the challenges, several movies achieved remarkable success at the Spanish box office in 2023. “Barbenheimer” became the second-highest-grossing film of the summer, earning €33.7 million ($374.1 million). Additionally, four movies, including “Barbie,” surpassed the €20 million ($22.2 million) mark in Spain for the first time since 2019.
Spanish Film Market Share
The market share of Spanish films decreased from 22% in 2022 to 17% in 2023. This can be attributed to a combination of flat revenues from local titles and a larger total box office. Family-oriented films and comedies dominated the top Spanish titles, such as the sequel to “Champions” called “Campeonex” and “Ocho apellidos marroquís.”
Top Grossing Films in Spain
The top-grossing films in Spain in 2023 were dominated by international releases. The list includes “Barbie,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “Avatar, The Sense of Water,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Fast & Furious X.”
To view the full list of the top-grossing films in Spain, you can visit the source link here.
Images:
The Super Mario Bros. Movie © Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
Championext Courtesy of Latido Films
The Beasts Greenwich Entertainment
This article was contributed by Lorena Jaramillo.