2015: The Year of the Blockbuster   21 Jan 2016

Motion Pictures Distributors' Association

January 21, 2016

2015: The Year of the Blockbuster

For the second year in a row the New Zealand motion picture industry posted record revenues with a total Gross Box Office for 2015 of $193 million up 5.5% from 2014’s previous record of $183 million.

2015’s record take was headlined by five titles breaking the six million in revenue mark. STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS led the way with a take of $9,154,322, despite only being released in the third week of December. FAST & FURIOUS 7 was second at just over $8 million, closely followed by JURASSIC WORLD at just under $8 million, while AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and MINIONS completed the top five, both recording takes of above six million.

The top ten was rounded out by SPECTRE, HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2, INSIDE OUT, PITCH PERFECT 2 AND THE MARTIAN.

“2015 was the year of the blockbuster with eagerly anticipated titles such as STAR WARS, FAST & FURIOUS, JURASSIC WORLD, AVENGERS, MINIONS, SPECTRE and HUNGER GAMES all more than living up to audience and industry expectations”, said MPDA Chairman Andrew Cornwell. “We are very pleased to see an increase of $10 million in total revenues from 2015 above 2014, which was in itself a record breaking year”.

Mr Cornwell added a note of caution however “The 2015 action against the enormous pirate site YTS operated from Mt. Wellington highlights how close to home the threat to our industry is”. Mr Cornwell noted that PwC released a report in 2015 showing how New Zealand’s creative industries combined contributed $3.8 billion to New Zealand’s economy, and supported the employment of more than 40,000 people (http://wecreate.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/PwC-FINAL-Summary-Creative-Sector-Report-25-September-2015-KAB.pdf). With the Copyright Law scheduled for review in 2016 Mr Cornwell stated “Its crucial that the Government recognises strong ccopyright laws are needed to ensure the continued vibrancy and growth of the creative sector which contributes so much to New Zealand’s economy, in both providing jobs and stimulating culture”.

New Zealand movie goers across the country continue to be able to enjoy the best in technical presentation with a further ten screens added in 2015 bringing the total number to 418 digital screens. New Zealand also continues to be a world class production venue with a number of high profile titles in progress.

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