In 2019, The Lion King, Aladdin and Joker were the most popular movies with cinemagoers in Malta, according to national data. 

At least one in 10 people who went to the cinema watched The Lion King, while Aladdin attracted another 7.2% and Joker 5.5% of admissions.

Apart from these three movies, cinemas in Malta projected another 406 film titles, registering a total of 748,568 admissions, according to National Statistics Office. Each movie was shown, on average, 71 times.

These movies were shown on 28 screens in six cinemas across Malta and Gozo, with a total seating capacity of 5,762 between them. 

Maltese productions attracted 2% of admissions

Maltese productions, with a total of 13,942 admissions, saw a total gross box office of €99,000 in 650 screenings. They attracted 1.9% of the total number of admissions.

Foreign productions meanwhile registered 734,626 admissions with a total gross box office of €4.952 million in 28,534 screenings.

The majority of cinemagoers - 91.2 per cent - watched films originating from the US.

In terms of age classification, most films shown in Maltese cinemas were rated as 15 and 12A.

The running time of nearly two thirds of the films fell within the 76 to 120 minutes bracket. Another 26.9% of movies lasted between 121 and 180 minutes.

The NSO also published employment data related to cinemas: on average cinemas employed 134 people at any one point in time throughout 2019, 77.6% of whom were engaged on a part-time basis.