The Movie Theatre Association of Canada (MTAC) has reported a box office revenue of $897.7 million in Canada for 2023.

The figure is a more than 33% increase from 2022, when the box office tallied $674 million, and includes approximately $8 million generated from “alternative content,” according to MTAC.

The year 2023 saw a jump in theatre attendance, with Cineplex reporting a more than 41% increase in its third quarter financial results, attributed in large part to Barbie, Oppenheimer, and Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning. The theatre chain also posted record Q3 box office revenues of $188.2 million.

Barbie and Oppenheimer, which were released simultaneously on July 21, 2023, also propelled Cineplex to its highest summer box office weekend of all time, bringing in more than $19 million in revenue and 1.4 million customers to domestic theatres, according to the exhibitor.

Domestic productions also pulled moviegoers to theatres with films such as Louise Archambault’s dramedy Le temps d’un été (Attraction) grossing more than $2 million during the calendar year. Matt Johnson’s BlackBerry (Rhombus Media, Zapruder Films), the animation Katak, the Brave Beluga (10th Ave Productions) and Charles-Olivier Michaud’s Ru (Amalga Créations Médias) all crossed the $1 million mark.

Films like Sophie Roy’s animated Canada-Germany copro Butterfly Tale also performed well at the box office.

Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures