The Big Screen Revival: why Q4’s lineup is a golden moment for advertisers
Wicked starring Ariana Grande & Cynthia Eviro is expected to the biggest cinema release of 2024
Cinemas are braced for a blockbuster Q4, and the industry is betting on big names and long-awaited sequels to lure audiences back to the big screen. With an exciting lineup of releases as we head toward Christmas, there’s a real opportunity for advertisers to seize the moment to reach engaged, attentive crowds in one of the year’s most anticipated viewing seasons.
The blockbuster season did get off to a bumpy start, however. As you may have seen, Joker: Folie à Deux didn’t quite hit the high notes it was hoping for at the box office. The billion-dollar original and the addition of Lady Gaga weren’t enough to bring in audiences, undoubtedly hampered by critical reviews and a pivot to turn this comic book thriller into a musical. So far, it looks like it won’t even break even on the movie’s budget, never mind hitting the expectation of becoming another billion-dollar Hollywood hit. An impact for both the studios & advertisers who had lined up behind the Joker expecting a strong admission kick off to the season.
This has raised eyebrows as we enter the much-heralded Q4 with a host of other big name titles lined up - can these releases deliver for the studios and brands alike? Disney is banking on another animation success following Inside Out 2 with the return of Moana to screens after an almost 10-year hiatus, while a Christmas release for the latest movie in the Lion King saga, Mufasa, is expected to be a huge draw, with Beyoncé & daughter Blue Ivy lighting up screens. Similarly, with the final instalment of the Venom trilogy, The Last Dance, on the horizon and the next addition to the Paddington adventure following the famous bear in Peru, cinema’s end-of-year slate is packed with crowd-pleasers, primed to draw audiences into theatres.
“Barbenheimer” - the two billion dollar cultural phonemnon that swept cinema screens & meme accounts
Cinema has been lacking big moments of success recently as it begins to slowly regain its position, emerging from the post-COVID haze. Who can forget, though, the zeitgeist, meme-worthy phenomenon that was “Barbenheimer”—a showdown between Margot Robbie’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Released on the same day, these polar-opposite blockbusters led to one of the most significant weekends for cinema ever and were heralded as the saviours of the summer box office. Together, Barbie and Oppenheimer grossed over $2 billion worldwide, an achievement Q4 is hoping to mirror with another one-two punch of wildly different films: Wicked and Gladiator II.
Released just a week apart, these movies provide an ideal moment for advertisers to reach two distinct, hard-to-capture audiences in quick succession. For brands, this type of high-quality, highly sought-after media moment is a golden opportunity, allowing them to stretch their reach across multiple demographics in an engaged environment. These are two of the biggest budget releases of the year—Gladiator II is over 20 years in the making and will crank the Ridley Scott blockbuster epicness to the next level (who doesn’t want to see water battles in the Colosseum or Gladiators riding rhinos?) while featuring an all-star cast including Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, & Pedro Pascal. Wicked Part 1 (the fact it’s been split into two films has so far, interestingly, been missed out from most of the marketing) will have a generation of musical theatre fans seated to watch Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, & Jonathan Bailey as they belt out classics, including Defying Gravity. Expectations are high for both movies, the question that remains is can they live up to the hype.
The sequel 25 years in the making - Gladiator II hits screens in November starring Paul Mescal & Pedro Pascal
Not only is there a raft of content for brands to associate with, but a recent roll out of tools mean that brands can truly quantify the impact cinema can have on their campaigns. Enter the AV Reach Maximiser tool, recently launched by Digital Cinema Media. Combining data from the IPA, Lumen, and RSMB, the tool allows brands to quantify pre-campaign exactly what incremental reach cinema can offer. It also uses Lumen’s attention benchmarks to measure the attentive seconds uplift that cinema advertising delivers over TV and online video alone.
We’ve long known that cinema is the most engaging space in media—think enormous screens, immersive Dolby Atmos sound, and an environment designed to keep audiences captivated and (thankfully) free from the dual-screening distraction of mobile phones. But now, brands have the power to quantify that engagement, making it easier than ever to see the impact that cinema advertising can deliver.
So, with the last couple of months loaded with exciting films and more effective data for advertisers to leverage cinema’s unique reach, the outlook looks rosy. But we’ve still not managed to navigate through the impact of the strikes that swept through Hollywood at year’s end, as Writers & Actors downed tools, leading to a host of planned films being cancelled and, more importantly, causing delays of over five months. While the schedule looks rosy now, will the 2025 slate be able to adequately recover to sustain audience numbers in a landscape also competing with an array of increasingly competitive subscription VOD providers and the push for more simultaneous at-home theatrical releases? It’s certainly a challenge for studios and cinemas alike. With the recent announcement of a series of closures at Cineworld as part of its ongoing restructuring, is this a warning sign of the challenges to come and of the ongoing impact of audience numbers failing to return to pre-pandemic levels?
The growth of at home viewing and at home premieres continues to be a threat to cinemas
The real question is, will this resurgence be enough to bring cinema attendance fully back to pre-pandemic levels in the long term? Can the industry maintain momentum having never faced fierce competition on multiple fronts. Yet, if this quarter’s lineup and last summer’s “Barbenheimer” effect are any indication, cinema has a strong pull that no living room can quite replicate. As long as the industry continues to bring big-screen magic, unique storytelling, and attention grabbing advertising opportunities, there’s every chance cinema will remain a powerful force, delivering both entertainment and brand impact in the hearts (and minds) of audiences everywhere.
In the meantime, let’s grab the popcorn and enjoy a real blockbuster season. Now, the only question left is, what film will you choose?
