Sequels set to scorch as cinemas prime for action
Sequels to the massively popular Pirates of the Caribbean, Shrek and Harry Potter are among the big-hitters slated for release next month, June and then July respectively.
The first Simpsons movie, as well as follow-ups to Spider-Man, the Bourne Supremacy and Ocean’s Twelve, are also hotly tipped for the top in 2007.
With Irish cinema attendances now the highest in Europe, film bosses expect this year’s admission figures to beat 2006’s record 17.9 million trips, the best figures in 10 years.
Andrew McDermott of Carlton Advertising, which screens commercials in cinemas, said sequels to popular movies will bring in punters in their droves.
“These are all sequels of movies which were very successful in the first place — it’s not like they are poor sequels of popular films.
“It looks like it’s going to be a real scorcher of a summer, with no fewer than nine blockbusters lined up over May, June, July and August.
“There really is something for everyone so we expect strong growth in admissions.”
Among the first hotly tipped movies out of the blocks will be Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, due for release in time for May’s mid-term break and starring Johnny Depp.
“World’s End is the third Pirates movie and was filmed at the same time as the second one.
“It has the original cast and director so it’s more of the same fun and not an inferior follow-on,” added Mr McDermott.
Last year’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was the highest-grossing film of 2006 in Ireland, with box office receipts of €3.9m.
Buoyed by other successes like Casino Royale, Walk the Line and the Wind That Shakes the Barley, Irish cinemas last year recorded 17.85 million attendances, up 1.5 million, or 8.9%, on 2005.
And in the space of 10 years attendance figures have rocketed 6.4 million, or 56%, on 1996 admission levels of 11.48 million, according to industry data.
With the average Irish cinema-goer attending 4.2 movies a year — compared to the European average of 1.6 — the nine blockbusters could push that figure higher.
For instance, Shrek The Third is out at the end of June to capture the school holiday market at a time when attendance levels traditionally dip.
The first installment in the Shrek series in 2001 grossed €3.56m while the second movie took €5.6m.
Likewise, cinemas sold €2.4m of tickets for the first Pirates of the Caribbean film and €3.1m for the sequel.
By contrast, the first Harry Potter movie sold €5.2m in tickets as schoolboy wizardry caught the imagination of a public already entranced by the JK Rowling books.
Subsequent Hogwarts movies have failed to reach the same heights, though the last one, released in 2005, recorded €3.2m in sales compared to €3.1m for the previous Potter film.
Disney’s Meet the Robinsons is showing in normal and 3D formats in Dundrum, with the three-dimensional version proving the most popular so far,
Monsters vs Aliens will be released by DreamWorks Animation in 2009.
Journey 3D, a live-action film about a trip beneath the surface of the Earth, will be offered in 2008 by New Line.
Beowulf, an animated retelling of the classic starring Angelina Jolie, is due later this year from Robert Zemeckis and Paramount.
Avatar, a live-action, sci-fi story about fighting aliens on another world, will be released in 2009 by 20th Century Fox. It’s the first of several 3D offerings expected from Titanic director James Cameron.
