Page | 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
v South Africa’s (SA) total Box Office earnings for the year 2018 amounted to R1,3 billion, an
increase of 9% when compared to 2017;
v A total of 213 films were released in South African cinemas; 22 of which were locally
produced;
v These 22 titles earned a total of R50 million in Box Office revenues recording an increase
of 12% compared to the year 2017;
v 12 of the 22 locally produced films were partially funded by the NFVF. These films earned
a total of R21 million;
v The market share of locally produced films in 2018 was 4%;
v The top-earning domestic films in 2018 were:
• Frank and Fearless opening with 95 screens and earning a total of R7,8 million in
revenues;
• Stroomop opening with 57 screens at release, earning R7,4 million;
• Ellen: Die Storie van Ellen Pakkies, which was allocated 35 screens, was the third
highest performing local film, making R6 million at the cinema.
v The highest grossing films in South Africa were:
• Black Panther (grossing over R107 million);
• Avengers: Infinity War (at R73 million); and
• Aquaman (at R55 million).
v Action/Adventure was the highest earning genre, followed by Animation, and Action/Sci-fi;
v A total of 52 3D/4DX/IMAX format films were released and these accounted for 65% of the
total Box Office gross.
(To see the half-yearly Box Office Report for 2018, Click Here).
Page | 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 1
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................................... 3
DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS................................................................................................... 4
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 5
2. Box Office Trends .......................................................................................................... 6
2.1 South Africa’s Domestic Box Office Revenue........................................................... 6
2.2 Number of Local Films released .............................................................................. 7
2.3 Market Share of Domestic Films ............................................................................. 7
2.4 Indigenous Language Films ..................................................................................... 8
2.5 Total Number of Films Released .............................................................................. 8
2.6 Total Box Office Gross ............................................................................................. 9
3. Top Performing Theatrical Films ................................................................................. 10
3.1 Top 10 – South African produced films .................................................................. 10
3.2 Top 20 – Films released in South Africa .................................................................. 11
4. Market Share by Distributor ...................................................................................... .13
4.1 Total Market Share of films by Distributor ............................................................ .13
5. Box Office Gross by Genre .......................................................................................... .13
5.1 South African produced films by Genre ................................................................ .13
5.2 Total gross of films released in South Africa by Genre ........................................... 14
6. 3D/4DX/IMAX format ................................................................................................. 16
7. Country of Origin ......................................................................................................... 16
8. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 18
Page | 3
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AUS Australia
BEL Belgium
BOG Box Office Gross
BRA Brazil
CAN Canada
CHN China
CBD Crystal Brook Distribution
SPN Spain
EE Empire Entertainment
FRA France
GER Germany
HK Hong Kong
IFD Indigenous Films Distribution
IND India
ITL Italy
MEX Mexico
NETHER Netherlands
NFVF National Film and Video Foundation
NZ New Zealand
POL Poland
SA South Africa
SPN Spain
SCI-FI Science Fiction
SWE Sweden
S.KOR South Korea
UAE United Arab Emirates
UIP United International Pictures
UK United Kingdom
USA Unites States of America
Page | 4
DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS
v Gross Box Office: is measured in terms of the number of tickets sold at the cinema or the
amount of money raised by ticket sales (revenues).
v Market Share: is the percentage of an industry or market's total sales that is earned over a
specified period. It is calculated by adding domestic gross and dividing by the Total Gross
Box Office figure.
v SA/Locally produced: refers to films that are shot and produced by South Africans, and
shot in South Africa, and further includes films classified as ‘National Films’ by virtue of
having received official co-production status by the NFVF.
v Foreign/International: refers to films that are produced outside of South Africa.
v Movie: a cinematographic and/or theatrical film.
v Cumulative: refers to a figure that grows in quantity.
v Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR): is a measure of growth over multiple time
periods.
Note: In order to provide a fair comparison between theatrical films released, all rankings are
based on ticket sales.
Page | 5
1. Introduction
The Annual Box Office Report is a consolidation of South Africa’s Top 25 reports which show
the performance of films released at the Box Office. This information is collected from
South African film distributors namely; Filmfinity, Empire Entertainment, United
International Pictures, Indigenous Film Distributors, Blacksheep Films, Gravel Road
Distribution, and CMD Entertainment Africa, and is made available by Filmfinity. This report
is compiled on a half-yearly basis with the first publication accounting for the January –
June period, followed by an Annual Box Office overview report from January – December.
The data is sourced from Filmfinity and the Box Office Mojo website (available online at
Box Office Mojo, 2018).
An important limitation is that films cannot be monitored once they are out of cinema
circuit or not in South Africa’s Top 25 list. Therefore, all the figures quoted in this report
are for the period during which the film was still competing in the Top 25.
This report analyses the performance of local films and highlights some of the highest
earning titles for the 2018 period. The information on Box Office gross, type of genres
distributed, number of domestic films released and an indication of the market share for
South Africa will also be reported on to give an indication of what drives audience
consumption of films in South Africa.
For the various films that were exhibited on South African theatrical cinema, the following
indicators are analysed:
• Gross Box Office revenue;
• Market Share of local films;``
• Distributors;
• Genre Classification;
• Country of Origin;
• Films per Language;
Page | 6
2. Box Office Trends
Moviegoers were spoiled with a variety of choices in 2018: from the release of Black
Panther (Action/Adventure), Incredibles 2 (Animation), Aquaman (Action/Sci-fi), Night
School (Comedy), Tyler Perry’s Acrimony (Thriller) and local films: Frank and Fearless
(Comedy), Stroomop (Adventure), Ellen: Die Storie van Ellen Pakkies (Drama), Five Fingers
for Marseilles (Western Thriller) and Inxeba (Drama/Romance) just to name a few.
However, South African consumers were under tremendous pressure, which was further
aggravated by economic factors such as an increase in food and petrol prices as well as an
increase in Value Added Tax (effective as of 1 April 2018) - all of which put pressure on the
average consumer, and possibly led to less spending on theatrical films or attendance at
the cinema. Lack of consumer spending is illustrated by Box Office results which will be
discussed in detail below.
2.1 South Africa’s Domestic Box Office Revenue
Box Office revenues generated for locally produced films in the first half of 2018 amounted
to R17 million. There was an improvement in the second half of the year with earnings of
R33 million. This has resulted in a combined Box Office gross of over R50 million recorded
for the year 2018 with an increase of 12% from 2017.
Consumer attendance at the cinema and the lack of support for locally produced films
remains a serious concern as this is evident from the revenue received at the Box Office.
Figure 1: South Africa's Domestic Box Office Revenue, 2010 - 2018
R86
R39
R83
R98
R55
R69
R69
R45
R50
R0
R20
R40
R60
R80
R100
R120
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
R Millions
Year
South Africa's Domestic Box Office Revenue
Page | 7
2.2 Number of local films released
South Africa released 22 theatrical films in 2018 across different genres; comedy, drama,
romance, thriller, horror and adventure films.
Figure 2: Number of local films released, 2010 - 2018
2.3 Market Share of domestic films
The fluctuating patterns of South African local films’ market share is highlighted in Figure
3, below. Locally produced films represent only 4% of the total market share of the Box
Office revenue. The percentage that represents the share of revenues for locally produced
films have declined from 6% in 2016 to 4% in 2017. The pattern of market share has
remained fairly constant at 4% in the past two years (2017 and 2018).
Figure 1: Market Share of SA produced films, 2010 - 2018
11%
5%
11% 11%
6% 6%
6%
4%
4%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Percentage
Year
Market Share of SA produced films
23
24
19
25
23
22
28
23
22
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Number
Year
Number of local films released
Page | 8
2.4 Indigenous language films
Out of the 22 locally produced titles, 10 of those were Afrikaans/English language films, 7
were in English, 2 in IsiXhosa/Southern Sotho, and 3 were in IsiZulu/English. The
Afrikaans/English language films earned R27 million in total while English only films earned
R17 million in Box Office revenue. IsiXhosa/Southern Sotho made R3,6 million and
IsiZulu/English language films earned approximately R2 million in revenues.
Table 1: Indigenous Language Films
Indigenous Language
No#
Language
Count of
Movie Title
1
Afrikaans/English
10
2
English
7
3
IsiXhosa/Southern Sotho
2
4
IsiZulu/English
3
Grand Total
22
Source: NFVF database
2.5 Total number of films released at Box Office
The number of films released annually at the Box Office has remained constant, releasing
an average of 213 per year.
Figure 2: Total number of films released at Box Office, 2010 - 2018
Page | 9
2.6 Total Box Office Gross
The total earnings for the 213 films released at the Box Office in 2018 amounted to R1,3
billion, a 9% growth of the 2017 results. The NFVF is delighted to note that the total Box
Office gross has been on an increasing trend since 2010.
Figure 3: Total Box Office Gross for films released in South Africa, 2010 - 2018
The forecast of the Box Office revenues for the next five years (2019-2023) is depicted in
Table 2, below. These figures are the estimates of the future Box Office performance based
on the current trends. The projected statistics show that Box Office gross will continue to
rise, at 4% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR).
197
204
184
204
228
243
229
222
213
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Number
Year
Total Number of Films Released at Box Office
R 773
R 809
R 786
R 879 R 880
R1 198
R1 136
R1 193
R1 300
R0
R500
R1 000
R1 500
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
R Millions
Year
Total Box office Gross
Page | 10
Table 2: South Africa’s Box Office Gross, 2014 - 2023 (R millions)
Historical Data
Forecast Data
CAGR
%
Year
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2018-
2023
Gross Box
Office
R880
R1
198
R1
136
R1
193
R1
300
R1
392
R1
283
R1
500
R1 391
R1
607
4%
YOY Growth
-
36%
-5%
5%
9%
7%
-8%
17%
-7%
16%
-
Source: NFVF database
CAGR - Compound Annual Growth Rate
3. Top performing theatrical films
3.1 Top 10 – South African produced films
Table 3, below, illustrates the performance of South African produced films. Some of the
films were well-received by the audience and performed quite well at the Box Office.
Frank and Fearless was the top performing local title, opening with 98 screens and earning
a cumulative gross of R7,8 million for seven weeks on circuit). Stroomop (allocated 57
screens at its release) followed, earning R7,4 million for its 9 weeks on circuit with the film.
Ellen: Die Storie van Ellen Pakkies (allocated 35 screens) was the third highest performing
local film, making R6 million for the 8 weeks it ran in cinemas. The remaining top 10 films
on the list earned revenues between R1,8 million and R5,0 million.
Table 3: Top 10 – South African produced films
Top 10 - SA Produced Films
No#
Movie Title
No# of
Weeks
No# of
Screens
BOG at
Release
Box Office
Gross (ZAR)
1
Frank and Fearless
7
98
R1340 342
R7873 349
2
Stroomop
9
57
R2 547 451
R7 407 835
3
Ellen: Die Storie van Ellen Pakkies
8
35
R968 408
R6 085 624
4
Broken Promises: 4-Ever
13
15
R1 029 775
R4 280 383
5
Susters
10
37
R1 012 632
R4 141 651
6
Baby Mamas
12
61
R723 281
R3 222 353
7
Thys En Trix
6
43
R604 343
R2 738 908
8
Raaiselkind
4
33
R397 413
R1 978 783
9
The Wound (Inxeba)
10
19
R598 571
R1 950 353
Page | 11
10
Looking for Love
9
46
R443 953
R1 833 520
Source: NFVF, Filmfinity, Box Office Mojo
Gross Box Office = Cumulative gross up to 28 February 2019
* was still being exhibited as at 28 February 2019
3.2 Top 20 – films released in South Africa
As depicted in Table 4, films ranked by the amount earned during 2018. The highest
grossing film in 2018 was Black Panther, an Action/Adventure film which surpassed South
Africa’s Box Office charts, earning a total of R107 million. The second highest earning film,
Avengers: Infinity War, (also an Action/Adventure film) grossed over R73 million, and the
Action/Sci-fi film, Aquaman, followed, earning R54 million at the Box Office (as at 28
February 2019).
None of the local films made it to the overall Top 20 list.
Table 4: Top 20, films released in South Africa
Top 20 Films released in South Africa, 2018
No#
Movie Title
Distributor
Genre
Box Office Gross
(ZAR)
Country of Origin
1
Black Panther
Filmfinity
Action/Adventure
R107 449 011
USA
2
Avengers: Infinity War
Filmfinity
Action/Adventure
R73 134 339
UK/USA
3
Aquaman*
EE
Action/Sci-fi
R54 528 121
USA
4
Incredibles 2
Filmfinity
Animation
R52 809 096
USA
5
Bohemian Rhapsody*
EE
Biography/Drama
R41 193 600
UK/USA
6
Mamma Mia: Here we Go Again
UIP
Musical
R33 976 673
UK/USA
7
Fifty Shades Freed
UIP
Drama/Romance
R33 296 021
USA
8
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
UIP
Action/Adventure
R32 349 719
UK/USA
9
Deadpool 2
EE
Action
R31 835 113
USA
10
Tyler Perry's Acrimony
Filmfinity
Thriller
R27 761 881
USA
11
Mission Impossible: Fall Out
UIP
Action
R24 867 466
UK/USA
12
Night School
UIP
Comedy
R24 142 637
USA
13
Venom
Filmfinity
Action/Sci-fi
R23 731 718
USA
14
Peter Rabbit
Filmfinity
Animation
R23 697 315
AUS/UK/USA
15
The Grinch*
UIP
Animation
R23 599 451
USA
16
Ralph Breaks the Internet*
Filmfinity
Animation
R23 549 302
USA
17
Oceans 8
EE
Action/Adventure
R22 323 881
USA
18
Bumblebee (Incl. 3D)*
UIP
Action/Sci-fi
R21 119 599
USA
19
Ant-man and the Wasp
Filmfinity
Action/Adventure
R19 117 690
USA
20
Johnny English Strikes Again
UIP
Action/Comedy
R18 960 091
FR/UK/USA
Source: NFVF database
Page | 13
4. Market Share by Distributor
4.1 Total market share of films per distributor
Table 5 provides an analysis of films released by local distributors; Filmfinity, Empire
Entertainment, United International Pictures, Indigenous Film Distributors, Blacksheep
Films, Gravel Road Distribution, and CMD Entertainment Africa. Seven distribution
companies distributed a total of 213 films released in 2018.
• Filmfinity earned the largest share of Box Office revenue (with a gross taking of
R517 million - 40% market share);
• Empire Entertainment (EE) accounted for a Box Office gross of R440 million, (34%
of the total Box Office gross);
• United International Pictures (UIP) earned R306 million, (24% of the market
share).
Table 5: Total Market Share of films by distributor
Total Market Share of films by distributor
No#
Distributor
Count of
Movie Title
Box Office
Gross (ZAR)
Market
Share
1
Filmfinity
86
R517 302 921
40%
2
Empire Entertainment
79
R440 200 686
34%
3
United International Pictures
28
R306 557 972
24%
4
Indigenous Film Distributors
13
R18 486 273
1%
5
Blacksheep Films
5
R16 036 285
1%
6
Gravel Road Distribution
1
R671 932
0%
7
CMD Enter. Africa
1
R608 236
0,05%
Grand Total
213
R1 299 864 305
Source: NFVF database
Page | 14
5. Box Office Gross by Genre
5.1 South African produced films by Genre
Table 6, explores the different genres and their popularity with the South African
audience. The pattern of popular genres is determined by a few high grossing titles.
Table 6, depicts the popular genres in 2018 for locally produced films. The top three
genres were: Comedy, Adventure and Drama. The Comedy genre generally which
generally has a wide audience appeal in South Africa, grossed at R15 million). Adventure
grossed at over R11 million, and the Drama genre earned R9,5 million.
Table 6: SA produced films by genre
SA produced films by genre
No#
Genre
Count of
Movie Title
Box Office
Gross (ZAR)
Top performing title
1
Comedy
4
R15 668 130
Frank and Fearless
2
Adventure
2
R11 549 486
Stroomop
3
Drama
6
R9 576 665
Ellen: Die Storie van Ellen Pakkies
4
Comedy/Drama
1
R4 280 383
Broken Promises: 4-ever
5
Comedy/Drama/Romance
2
R2 544 102
Catching Feelings
6
Drama/Romance
1
R1 950 353
The Wound (Inxeba)
7
Drama/Thriller/Western
1
R1 730 353
Five Fingers for Marseilles
8
Thriller
2
R1 453 806
Nommer 37
9
Drama/Musical/War
1
R1 444 756
Kanarie
10
Horror
1
R143 113
The Tokoloshe
11
Drama/Crime
1
R74 709
Mayfair
Grand Total
22
R50 415 856
Source: NFVF database
5.2 Total gross of films released in South Africa by Genre
The top-earning genre of all films released at the Box Office was Action/Adventure with
a total gross of R311 million. This was followed by Animation which earned R215 million
in revenues, and the Action/Sci-fi genre at R115 million in Box Office revenues.
Page | 15
Table 7: Total number of films released in SA by genre
Top 20 Films released in SA by Genre
No#
Genre
Count of Movie
Title
Box Office Gross
(ZAR)
Top performing title
1
Action/Adventure
13
R311 346 556
Black Panther
2
Animation
25
R215 725 297
Incredibles 2
3
Action/Sci-fi
9
R151 059 009
Aquaman
4
Comedy
21
R72 832 441
Night School
5
Action/Thriller
10
R71 796 438
Mission Impossible - Fallout
6
Thriller
12
R69 735 033
Tyler Perry's Acrimony
7
Biography/Drama
2
R41 875 793
Bohemian Rhapsody
8
Comedy/Drama
9
R40 585 023
Instant Family
9
Drama
41
R38 139 709
Ellen: Die Storie van Ellen Pakkies
10
Drama/Romance
3
R37 072 618
Fifty Shades Freed
11
Musical
1
R33 976 673
Mamma Mia: here we go again
12
Action/Comedy
4
R33 880 059
Johnny English strikes again
13
Horror
11
R19 615 631
The Nun
14
Adventure
4
R18 679 469
Stroomop
15
Sci-fi/Thriller
2
R18 606 983
The Meg
16
Adventure/Fantasy
1
R17 969 609
Fantastic Beasts: the crimes of Grindelwald
17
Drama/Musical
1
R13 977 412
A Star is born
18
Family/Fantasy
1
R13 321 921
Mary Poppins returns
19
Comedy/Romance
2
R9 653 051
Crazy Rich Asians
20
Adventure/Sci-fi
2
R9 304 429
Maze Runner: The death cure
Source: NFVF database
Page | 16
6. 3D/4DX/IMAX format
Figure 6, compares Box Office revenues earned by film format, which provides an
indication of how well these formats perform in the South African market. 52 titles in
the 3D, 4DX, D. Box & IMAX formats accounted for a significant 65% of the total Box
Office gross (R846 million) for the period under review. The top three previously -
mentioned films (Black Panther; Avengers: Infinity War and Aquaman) remained the
most popular top releases in these formats. The titles that were released in the standard
format accounted for 35% (R453 million).
Figure 4: 3D/4DX/IMAX format
7. Country of Origin
As depicted in Table 8, 22 local films were released (which accounted for 4% of the total
Box Office revenue). Most of the films released in South Africa in 2018 originated from
the USA (i.e. 99 titles, accounting for 61% of the total Box Office earnings).
30 UK/USA collaborations were released and these shared 30% of the total Box Office
revenue.
65%
35%
Classification by film format
3D,4DX,D.BOX & IMAX Standard format
Page | 17
Table 8: Country of Origin
Country of Origin
No#
Row Labels
Count of
Movie Title
Box Office Gross
(ZAR)
1
USA
99
R789 314 084
2
UK/USA
30
R327 563 166
3
SA
22
R50 415 856
4
CHINA/USA
5
R28 435 776
5
AUS/UK/USA
1
R23 697 315
6
FRA/UK/USA
1
R18 960 091
7
CAN/USA
3
R12 114 152
8
UK
9
R6 401 616
9
CAN/S.KOR/USA
1
R5 489 869
10
FRA/UK
2
R4 987 938
11
SPAIN
3
R4 560 950
12
CAN
2
R3 172 637
13
NZ/USA
1
R2 830 342
14
GER/AUS
1
R2 253 604
15
HK/ICE/USA
1
R2 024 915
16
SWE/UK/USA
1
R1 873 438
17
MEX/UK/USA
1
R1 684 525
18
CAN/GER/SWE/USA
1
R1 584 553
19
RUSSIA
2
R1 289 035
20
GER/UK
1
R1 123 997
Page | 18
8. Conclusion
In conclusion, the performance of local films at the Box Office for the year under review
has improved from that in 2017. 2018’s domestic revenue amounted to R50 million (i.e.
a 12% increase from R45 million in 2017).
The overall theatrical revenues for 2018 totalled R1,3 billion (a 9% increase from R1,2
billion).
The pattern of market share has remained at a fairly constant 4% increase for the past
two years.
v The highest grossing film in 2018 was Black Panther (an Action/Adventure movie
which surpassed South Africa’s Box Office charts earnings by earning R107 million.
The second highest earning film was Avengers: Infinity War, another
Action/Adventure, grossing over R73 million while the Action/Sci-fi film Aquaman
followed, earning R54 million at the Box Office (as at 28 February 2019);
v Filmfinity dominates the distribution space, having distributed the largest number
of titles for the past three years;
v Action/Adventure, Animation, Action/Sci-fi remained the most popular genres
liked by audiences.
v Comedy and Drama were the highest grossing genres for locally produced films;
v With the advancement of technology, there has been a steady increase in films
released in 3D, 4D, and IMAX formats which accounted for 65% of the total Box
Office gross. The standard format earned only 25% of the total Box Office
revenues;
v The top-performing films in South Africa's Box Office charts are mostly those from
the US origin with a few films being UK/USA collaborations; and
v South Africa released 22 films, while UK released 9 titles excluding the
collaboration with the USA.
Page | 19
Statistical Contact details
This release was prepared by Research Analyst: Ms. Zilungile Tunzi, and edited by the
Head of Operations Department: Ms. Unathi Malunga.
Contact Details
Physical Address: 2nd Floor, 87 Central Street, Houghton, 2198, South Africa
Postal Address: Private Bag X04, Northlands, 2116, South Africa
Tel: +27 11 483 0880
Fax: +27 11 483 0881
Email: info@nfvf.co.za
Website: www.nfvf.co.za
© National Film and Video Foundation 2019 Disclaimer
The National Film and Video Foundation has produced this Box Office analysis for the
purposes of providing film industry practitioners with the performance of South African
films at the Box Office. This analysis is not presented as definitive advice to be relied
upon, nor should it be printed or disseminated in other forms without the NFVF’s
written consent.