South African cinema plans

South African cinema companies Ster-Kinekor Nu Metro have big plans for next year, including exciting movie releases, anime screenings, BTS concerts, comedy shows, and other new content.

MyBroadband asked Ster-Kinekor and Nu Metro about their plans for 2025 in the face of the threat posed by international streaming players.

South African cinema chains have been struggling due to the popularity of streaming services, combined with intense load-shedding in recent years and the after-effects of the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Cinema companies in the country were also hurt by the Hollywood scriptwriters’ and actors’ strikes in 2023.

Ster-Kinekor told MyBroadband that the pain experienced as a result of the strikes has started to subside.

“While the impact of the Hollywood scriptwriters’ and actors’ strikes last year is still being felt, with the release dates of many of the big blockbuster titles and other movies delayed as a result, this is now starting to ease,” said chief marketing officer Lynne Wylie.

She added that big blockbuster titles will be released in late 2024 and into 2025

Ster-Kinekor also expects a big boost in ticket sales from mid-November and into the December and January holiday period.

This will come from the release of highly anticipated titles like Gladiator II, Wicked Part 2, and Moana 2 in November and Mufasa: The Lion King and Sonic 3 in December.

“With a slate of excellent titles being released over the second half of this year and into 2025, cinemagoers will be spoilt for choice,” said Wylie.

She added that Ster-Kinekor’s Throwback Cinema campaign would continue until at least February 2025.

Nu Metro told MyBroadband that 2025 will be packed with highly anticipated movie releases, including Captain America: Brave New World, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Mission Impossible 8, and Jurassic World Rebirth.

“Our goal is to provide an unforgettable cinematic experience with our state-of-the-art Xtreme cinema, our grand VIP offering, and our multisensory immersive 4DX viewing format,” it said.

The cinema company will also continue offering a variety of content alternatives to just movies.

“Alongside the blockbuster hits, we will continue to offer a wide variety of alternative content. This includes Anime screenings, BTS concerts, opera, Ballet, comedy shows, and more,” said Nu Metro.

“Our aim is to provide something for everyone, ensuring that all our guests can find something they love.”

South African theatre companies have been pressed in recent years, with audience numbers never returning to what they were before the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.

The Covid-19 lockdowns forced movie theatres to close their doors.

Ster-Kinerkor entered business following the Covid-19 period, and the intense load-shedding experienced in 2022 and 2023 also deterred customers from visiting theatres.

Ster-Kinekor CEO Mark Sardi previously said that the rotational power cuts significantly impacted customer behaviour. He also acknowledged the threat posed by streaming services.

“If you got onto the drug of watching a streaming service at home, and you’re worried about travelling through traffic lights that don’t work to a cinema that may or may not be on, it does become a bit of a disincentive to go,” said Sardi.

Streaming services stealing customers from cinemas

According to multimedia and television journalism lecturer at the Durban University of Technology, Siphumelele Zondi, international streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ are poaching customers from cinema chains in the country.

Zondi explained that home Internet access has expanded significantly in South Africa, allowing more residents to access these streaming services.

“It’s not just television that’s struggling here. Cinema chains have also said that they are struggling. Ster-Kinekor in South Africa has shut down some of its cinemas,” he added.

As a result of the decline, Ster-Kinekor and Nu Metro have moved to diversify their content offering to attract more customers.

“Nu Metro has said it wants to diversify and go into gaming too because streaming services are also taking away their customers as people are no longer going to the cinema to watch a movie. They’re sitting at home and watching that movie,” said Zondi.

Ster-Kinekor’s Sardi has also spoken of offering gaming content at its movie theatres.

“What we have is really big spaces in very attractive malls that are very secure,” he said.

“I think we’ve also got spaces where we can start to do other clever things like e-gaming, and I think you can bring an education element there as well.”

“If you want to play the Ferarri or Rolls Royce version of the PS5, you can do so in the same venue,” he added.

Sardi indicated that Ster-Kinekor’s “e-gaming” offering could lead to it hosting tournaments.

“Believe it or not, people will pay lots of money to watch other people twiddle their thumbs and play these games. So there’s a world where you can create an arena around all that,” he said.

In January 2024, Nu Metro’s then-head of marketing, Melanie Williams, told MyBroadband that the company would also screen concerts, concert films, and live music performances.

“With streaming services gaining more popularity, the future of the movie theatre industry primarily boils down to two main factors: the content being produced as well as the overall experience on offer for the consumer,” she said.

“The future of the movie theatre industry surprisingly also lies in alternative content.”