The number of seats in local cinemas has gone down “drastically” from pre-COVID-19 to now, with one of the main operators more than halving its number of screens over the years as the industry struggles to remain relevant.

But “faith in the continuity of cinema” keeps it going in the face of adversity – such as the advent of video streaming services – says Kate De Cesare, director of operations at Eden Leisure Group.

At one time, Eden operated 21 screens but these will soon dwindle to nine due to the closure of one multiplex and the downsizing of other cinema screen capacities, she said.

The group will, however, be opening two new state-of-the-art cinemas in the coming months, complete with full laser projection – a demonstration of “our commitment to this part of our business”.

The stark reality, she acknowledged, was that the “very valuable” real estate needed to house a cinema would turn a better profit used for different projects.

Where have all the films gone? 

Cinemas in Malta are far from the heyday of the 1990s. Last year, admissions stood at 269,763, down to a third of the 748,568 seen in 2019. In 2020, admissions slumped to a mere 165,475.

It wasn’t just the COVID closures that impacted the figures. It was more the fact there was very little new content for over a year, said De Cesare.

“Can you imagine, our top film at Christmas 2020 was Home Alone! We had to be inventive and creative with what we were screening but it was even a huge challenge to bring these old movies back.”

Cinemas in Malta and Gozo projected 358 different film titles in 2021, up from 330 the year before but still lower than pre-pandemic days… there were 409 in 2019.

Last year, the total number of screens and seating capacity on the island went down to 25 and 1,633 respectively from 28 screens and a seating capacity of 5,762 in 2019, according to national statistics.

The decline is reflected in total gross box office for foreign productions, which was €1.9 million from 20,858 screenings last year, down from €4.9 million in 28,534 screenings pre-COVID-19. The same takings were a mere €1,078,215 in 2020.

From bootlegged DVDs to pirating and Netflix

While the pandemic has not helped, problems date back to 1993 when what was then known as Eden Century Film Centre opened its doors, encountering obstacles along the way ever since, De Cesare said.

We feel that by continuing to be innovative and improving our product, we will continue to remain relevant

In those days, it was the illegal videos selling at the market in Valletta, moving on to illegal streaming sites such as Napster, which have now evolved to both legal and illegal online streaming platforms.

“Although we could pressure the authorities to clamp down on the sale of illegal videos and CDs in the early days, it is a different story now, when content is widespread online.”

But she is accustomed to “new hurdles coming our way”: COVID-19 prompted studios to fight to have their exhibition windows shortened.

“Where films would have had a 90-day window before a film moved from the silver screen to online platforms, this has been significantly reduced,” De Cesare explained.

De Cesare also complained that the government was offering free screenings to the public on the same day cinemas were allowed to open and noted Malta was “one of the only, if not ‘the’ only, country in Europe to pay full 18% vat on cinema."

Abroad, cinema is considered part of arts and culture and treated as such,” she noted.

All this has bitten into cinemas’ profits. But she continues to believe the movie theatre experience cannot be replicated with a digital download and certain films just have to be experienced on the big screen to be “fully immersed”.

June and July comparable with 2019

“We feel that by continuing to be innovative and improving our product, we will continue to remain relevant, even if the same content can be found online,” De Cesare said about the strategy to survive.

She listed the organisation of special film events, sourcing of unique content and the constant reinvention of the big-screen film experience as ways to achieve this.

In fact, “this year things are looking up. June and July were comparable with 2019. It’s all about content!”

While Eden continues to show Hollywood movies, it also focuses on local content, operas, ballets, concerts, anime, sporting events and more, De Cesare said.

She is not the only one to believe nothing compares to the full-on cinema experience.

Paula Fleri-Soler, former film critic for Times of Malta, admitted “the very sad truth” that her cinema-going reduced drastically since the onset of the pandemic.

“With cinemas pretty much closing down at the time and new films not really being released, I had stopped my reviews for The Sunday Times of Malta, and I have to confess that I am no longer as regular a cinemagoer as I once was – a sad state of affairs I keep meaning to rectify, but as yet have not,” Fleri-Soler said.

“But much as many of us got used to watching movies from the comfort of home, post-pandemic, I still believe nothing beats the experience of watching movies on the big screen.

'Cinema will never be replaced'

Cinephile Mark Camilleri, also a former film critic for a local magazine, insists cinema will never be replaced in his mind.

“I love the experience. I get my popcorn, I enjoy the trailers, I immerse myself for two hours and I love it!”

At home, Camilleri said, he inevitably gets distracted and, nowadays, rarely sits still with undivided attention for two whole hours.

The main problem today, according to Camilleri, is the lack of enforcement by cinemas regarding disturbing patrons.

“A group of rowdy teenagers, or some brainless couple explaining the plot to each other behind me, will ruin the movie experience.”

Still, landmark films will always be watched in the cinema – no matter how easy they may be to stream or download, he said.

“I just try to avoid busier cinema days and times.”