Venom 2 & Spider-Man 3 Drove Most Revenue Recovery at Cineworld

Regal Cinemas owner Cineworld Group has an accelerating recovery in group revenues in the second half of 2021.

The recovery has been driven by a slate of movies including “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” “Venom 2,” “Black Widow,” “Dune,” “Free Guy,” “Eternals” and “No Time to Die,” Cineworld said in a trading update on Friday.

While actual financial numbers were not disclosed, Cineworld said that July 2021 revenues were at just 50% of the same month in pre-COVID year 2019. That increased to 54% in August, 60% in September, 90% in October, 56% in November and 88% in December, 2021. November was negatively impacted by “Top Gun: Maverick” moving its release date to May 2022. December was particularly strong thanks to the release of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

The strongest growth rate was in the U.S., which grew from 45% of 2019 levels in July to 91% of 2019 levels in December. This was followed by the U.K. and Ireland, which climbed from 54% of 2019 levels in July to 89% of 2019 levels in December. Cineworld’s operations in the rest of the world declined from 79% to 72% of 2019 levels. Nevertheless, the group said that it generated positive cash flow in the fourth quarter of 2021.

via Variety