Amid very few new releases, school holidays are thankfully providing welcome foot traffic for exhibitors, with almost every title getting a boost at the box office last weekend.
It was déjà vu at the box office last weekend, with the same three titles leading receipts:
'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings', 'Free Guy' and 'Paw Patrol: The Movie'.
With school holidays ending and only a smattering of new releases in the market, the national box office plunged last weekend to the lowest point since mid-August 2020.
The past three projects special effects supervisor Dan Oliver has worked on have included two Marvel titles, two collaborations with Chris Hemsworth, and earned him his second Oscar nomination.
IF speaks to Dendy Icon group CEO Sharon Strickland, Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace general manager Alex Temesvari, and Palace Cinemas head of marketing Alex Moir about how they have navigated the past few months and what the road ahead looks like.
As long as people get back into the habit of going to the cinema and exhibitors can put trailers in front of them, the NSW independent sector should recover "quite well", according to Independent Cinema Australia president Scott Seddon.