Highlights

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1. Canadian motion picture theatres attracted more movie-goers in 2007. Cinemas, including indoor theatres, drive-ins and film festivals, sold 104.5 million tickets in 2007, up 1.5% from 102.9 million the year before.
2. The motion picture theatre industry recorded total operating revenues of about $1.3 billion, up 8.7% from 2006. Operating expenses increased by 6.1%.
3. Operating profits totaled $148.0 million, up from $109.1 million in 2006. The industry posted an operating profit margin of 11.0% in 2007. Theatres in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan recorded operating profit margins above the national average.
4. Ontario theatres earned 43% of total operating revenues in 2007, followed by those in Quebec, 16%, and Alberta and British Columbia, both with 15%.

Results in the remainder of this release are based on establishments whose combined revenues account for about 95% of the industry's total revenues.

Large chains continue to dominate the motion picture industry

1. The top chain-operated theatres, ranked on the basis of operating revenues, dominated the industry in terms of revenues, expenses and profit but also in terms of admission receipts, concession sales and attendance.
2. These large theatre chains represented 85% of the total national operating revenue in 2007, up slightly from 84% in 2006.
3. Operating revenues for large theatre chains increased 10.1%, outpacing the 9.2% increase for the industry as a whole.
4. At the same time, operating expenses were up 8.7% for the large chains, which was above the industry average of 6.5%.
5. As a result, these large theatre chains saw their profit margins increase from 9.8% in 2006 to 11.0% in 2007. This was in line with the industry average of 11.3%.
6. Box office sales (admission receipts) from the large theatre chains accounted for 53.6% of total operating revenue in 2007. These companies saw their box office sales reach $703.2 million, a 9.3% increase from a year earlier.
7. Revenues from the sale of food and beverages followed a similar pattern. The large theatre chains saw a 12.4% rise in concession receipts from 2006 to 2007. Concession sales accounted for 25.7% of total operating revenue in 2007.
8. Attendance levels for the large theatre chains reached 87 million, up from 83 million in 2006. This helped to increase box office and concession sales. The large theatre chains accounted for just over four-fifths of total attendance in 2007.

Albertans still the nation’s most avid movie-goers

1. Each Canadian made 3.2 visits to the movies on average in 2007 based on population projections for the year and the number of paid admissions to movie theatres from the survey.
2. Alberta residents were the nation’s most avid movie-goers with an average of 4 visits to the movies per person in 2007.