Nothing beats going to the pictures.
There is only so much Netflix you can watch and more than that, there is only so much going out you can do before the bank account starts looking unhealthy.
Sometimes, the best form of fun can involve sticking on a nice pair of jeans and a t-shirt, getting in the car and travelling a few miles down the road to the nearest cinema.
Irish people can’t resist an old trip to the movies and it continues to have the highest rating in Europe for cinema attendance per capita. We share the title with fellow cinema lovers, France, and both nations go to the cinema on average 3.3 trips per person each year.
Figures released by UNIC (Union Internationale des Cinémas/International Union of Cinemas) found that attendance in Ireland rose by 4% to nearly 16% in cinema admissions and box office revenue increased by just over 3% to €107.5 million in 2016.
However, the Irish cinema is still being dominated by imported films and of the €107.5 million in tickets sold at the front desk of Irish cinemas this year, just over €3 million went to films produced in Ireland.
There is also good news for frequent cinema fanatics and occasional omniplex goer. The average price of a cinema ticket in Ireland has fallen from €7 to €6.80 which although is cheaper, is still above the EU average of €6.60.
The UNIC Annual Report 2017 can be found and downloaded from here.
According to Scannain, these were the top 10 Highest Grossing Films in Ireland in 2016:
- Bridget Jones’s Baby — €4,135,825
- Finding Dory — €3,527,017
- The Secret Life of Pets — €3,430,385
- The Jungle Book — €3,156,389
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them — €2,923,951
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — €2,811,413
- Suicide Squad — €2,774,158
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story — €2,712,080
- Deadpool — €2,572,245
- Captain America: Civil War — €2,408,137
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