Movie ticket prices in South Africa — 2014 vs 2023

South Africa’s movie ticket prices have just about doubled since 2014, an analysis by MyBroadband has revealed.

In the past few years, movie theatre attendance has declined amid the proliferation of straight-to-streaming movies.

However, many cinemas worldwide saw healthy ticket sales thanks to several high-profile releases in 2023.

The country’s foremost movie theatres companies — Nu Metro and Ster-Kinekor — recently told MyBroadband that two major global blockbusters — Barbie and Oppenheimer, had also boosted ticket sales.

Comscore estimated that Barbie raked in over $1.34 billion (R26 billion) in global ticket sales by late August, making it Warner Bros. Pictures’ highest-grossing film ever.

While not as widely appealing as Barbie, Christoper Nolan’s Oppenheimer nonetheless managed to cross $900 million (R17.47 billion) at the box office by mid-September.

In addition to their commercial successes, both movies were very well-received by critics.

Poster for the Oppenheimer movie featuring Cillian Murphy.

These movies show that many people are still willing to put up the money for a night at the theatre.

However, they are among increasingly rare cinema hits in a time where original streaming movies also get big budgets and star-studded casts.

As a way to compete, NuMetro and Ster-Kinekor are also trying to adapt to consumer trends with less traditional cinema offerings.

That includes screening diverse content that benefits from the immersive experience of a large theatre — like live concerts and sports matches.

Nonetheless, the rising price of movie tickets has been a sticking point for many South Africans facing increasingly tight budgets.

These days, a cinema movie ticket costs about the same as an entire month’s subscription to a streaming service.

For example, Netflix’s entry-level package — Basic — costs R99 per month.

That is less than you would pay for a movie ticket from most Nu Metro and Ster-Kinekor outlets in South Africa.

3D movies disappear

MyBroadband compared Nu Metro and Ster-Kinekor prices in 2023 and 2014 to see how they have changed in nine years.

One interesting trend we observed is the disappearance of movie screenings in 3D format.

In MyBroadband’s previous comparisons over the past few years, we could compare the prices of tickets for 3D movies at Nu Metro and Ster-Kinekor.

At the time of publication of our latest analysis, there seemed to be no 3D movies being shown anywhere in the country.

Below, we have outlined the movie ticket prices charged by Ster-Kinekor and NuMetro in 2023 and how they compared to 2014.

Ster-Kinekor

Ster-Kinekor does not charge the same prices for movie tickets at all its cinemas.

Years ago, it used the “Junction” and “Classic” branding to distinguish between two cinema classes, while offering cheaper prices at select malls like Sterland, Maponya Mall, and N1 City.

The company has since ditched the Junction and Classic brands and simplified its ticket price structure for 2D movies from nine tiers to six.

Depending on which cinema and type of theatre you used, you would pay between R21 and R110 for a 2D movie ticket in 2014.

In 2023, Ster-Kinekor’s 2D tickets sell for between R59 and R209.

Most malls charge R119 for a regular 2D ticket, while a few ask R99.

For the most affordable tickets, there are eight malls charging either R59 or R69 per ticket.

The table below compares Ster-Kinekor’s 2D movie ticket prices from 2014 to  2023.

NuMetro

NuMetro’s ticket prices range from R39 at a handful of “Price Freeze” cinemas to R195 for the 4DX 2D or 3D screenings.

However, MyBroadband only has records of four ticket types from 2014 — regular 2D, regular 3D, Xtreme, and VIP 3D — and we have focused on these for our comparison.

Whereas these tickets cost between R51 and R95 in 2014, they are currently priced between R100 and R185.

The table below compares the prices of four of NuMetro’s movie ticket categories in 2014 and 2023.

Now read: Netflix price hike on the cards — report