In the three years since the end of the COVID pandemic, cinema exhibition around the world continues to feel the impact, with a slower than expected recovery exacerbated by unpredictability in the market, the industry downturn and shifting audience tastes, according to a new study published by France’s National Center of Cinema (CNC).
While Asia leads in global box office, the volatility in the market is creating opportunities, particularly for independent cinemas that cater to the increasingly diverse tastes of audiences.
Changing audience behavior has resulted in moviegoers becoming more selective, the study finds, stating: “Hollywood no longer reigns supreme and a market’s vitality now depends on the success of local films.”
Indeed, “monoculture is dead,” it adds, stressing that there is now an opportunity for local film industries. With the increasing scarcity and/or declining appeal of American blockbusters, “the hegemony of Hollywood is being eroded in favor of rising regional powers.”
Diversity, the study notes, “is becoming key to attracting audiences, a phenomenon which streaming has contributed to: it has accustomed audiences to watching local or subtitled works. This is “an opportunity for local film industries and the expression of a new soft power.”
