British data firm CACI revealed in their latest report the extent of the Barbenheimer phenomenon’s positive impact on the British cinema sector. Both Barbie and Oppenheimer achieved critical and box office success following their U.K. release on July 21st. CACI’s data, taken from their Brand Dimensions platform, also analyzed performance within the competitive socializing sector, which has continued to grow over the summer.
CACI’s Brand Dimensions data indicates that all of the region’s major cinemas performed well in both month-on-month and year-on-year figures. Comparing July with June, Curzon topped the leaderboard for both sales and transactions growth month-on-month, at +223% and +192% respectively. Picture House was not far behind, +170% up in sales and +129% on transactions, particularly noteworthy given the Barbie and Oppenheimer films were only in cinemas for 11 days in July.
Comparing year-on-year sales, boutique chain Everyman saw a +71% increase against July 2022, whilst Curzon had an even more impressive +144% uplift. The three largest cinema brands—Cineworld, Vue, and Odeon—all benefited from year-on-year sales growth of above +30%, with only the latter two sitting below the industry average of +44%.
“It wouldn’t be a British summer without a bit of rain, but having one of the wettest Julys on record took most of us by surprise,” CACI’s Head of Leisure Arabella Dalloz said in a press release. “Whilst this isn’t what people wanted for staycations, it certainly helped make the case for spending leisure time and money indoors, whether you were swept up by the Barbenheimer phenomenon or enjoy some crazy golf and darts. It goes to show that the cinema sector can still churn out great results if they have blockbusters to work with.”
“To just put on a film is simply not enough anymore. The success of #Barbenheimer was the culmination of great film production; superb brand, social PR, and studio marketing efforts; in parallel with the positive impact of event-driven, social, and high-specification, community-focused cinemas,” Entertainment Solution Services’ founder Rob Arthur added in the same press release. “Next up for the U.K. big screen: Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which will be a global phenomenon.”
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