Faced with the rise of streaming platforms, new post-covid habits and galloping inflation, many cinemas are experiencing difficulties throughout Europe. However, Luxembourg stands out from its neighbouring countries, at least in the cinemas of the Kinepolis group.

Between June and September, Kinepolis had 150,000 spectators in its cinemas in Kirchberg, Limpertsberg and Belval, 15% more than a year ago. In comparison, the indicator is down by 20.5% in Belgium and 8.7% in France, where the operator has 11 and 14 cinemas respectively.

From January to September, 440,000 visitors were counted, almost twice as many as in the same period a year earlier, the group said.

“We have just completed a weaker quarter due to the lack of new film releases. As an example: in September, almost four months after its release, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ was still the most popular film in our theatres,” said Eddy Duquenne, CEO of Kinepolis Group.

2019 level not yet reached

In a quarterly update published on Thursday 27 October, the operator of 111 multiplexes in Europe and North America highlighted a difficult summer. The reasons for this were a reduced supply of films, the heat wave and an overabundance of entertainment choices. As a result, 7.45 million visitors came to its network of cinemas, 74.3% of the total for the same period in 2019.

A notable difference is that spending per visitor was higher than before the health crisis, generating a turnover of 90.1% of that achieved three years earlier.

A fourth cinema in Metz in November

Kinepolis is hoping to turn things around for the last quarter, where it expects a “very attractive” film offer, including “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” as well as “Avatar: The Water Way.” Opera, live theatre, art, sport and concerts complete the line-up.

In the Greater Region, the group will open the Kinepolis Metz Amphithéâtre on 9 November, which will be the group’s fourth cinema in the Metz area after those in Saint-Julien-lès-Metz (1995), KLUB in the city centre (2018) and Metz Waves (2021). With eight screens and 1,105 seats, the future complex aims to welcome 300,000 visitors per year.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.