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Proportion of Australian feature films achieving cinema release

Next update April 2016

The cinema release of a feature film continues to be important to its overall success. The initial release period, along with the marketing and advertising campaign that accompanies it, and the response from both critics and audiences, will often greatly influence the value of the feature in other media and in other territories around the world. This remains the case despite the increasing contributions to revenue of other media, such as DVD, as well as shorter initial release periods.

Of the 886 Australian and co-production features produced between July 1980 and June 2011, 73 per cent were released in Australian cinemas by January 2013.

On an annual basis, the proportion of features achieving theatrical release ranges from 58 per cent (for features produced in 1987/88) to 96 per cent (for 2001/02 productions). The years where more than 80 per cent of the features produced have achieved Australian theatrical release are:

  • 1980/81 (90 per cent)
  • 1982/83 and 1990/91 (81 per cent each)
  • 1995/96 (87 per cent)
  • 1996/97 (85 per cent)
  • 2001/02 (96 per cent)
  • 2002/03 (89 per cent).

Titles that fail to obtain a theatrical release are mainly low-budget features hoping to secure a distributor on completion. By contrast, 244 (89 per cent) of the 275 features made between 1988/89 and 2007/08 that were funded by Screen Australia and its former agencies (the Film Finance Corporation and the Australian Film Commission) have achieved theatrical release – a high production-to-release ratio.

Of the 222 Australian and co-production features made between 2000 and 2008, 164 (74 per cent) had been released in Australia by January 2010. This compares favourably with the UK, where 491 (48.6 per cent) of 1,011 UK films certified between 2000 and 2006 had been theatrically released in the UK and the Republic of Ireland by 2 March 2008, according to the UK Film Council Statistical Yearbook 2008.

Number and proportion of films produced 1980/81–2012/13 released in cinemas in Australia, the UK and the US by January 2015

Next update April 2016

The proportion of Australian and co-production features achieving theatrical release in Australia has increased slightly across the decades, with 71 per cent of features made in the 1980s, 74 per cent of 1990s features and 76 per cent of 2000/01–2009/10 features released in Australian cinemas. However, cinema release in the UK and the US has declined across the decades.

It can take several years for a film to be released in the US after its completion, which is why films produced in 2013/14 have not been included in these figures at this stage.

For the number of films released in Australia and overseas since 1985, see Feature film releases.

Proportion of Australian and co-production features released in Australian cinemas

Graph: Proportion of Australian and coproduction feature films released in cinemas in Australia, 1980/81-2013/14. Table following provides the data.
  No. features produced1 No. released in cinemas2 Proportion released in cinemas
Australia UK US Australia UK US
Total
1980/81–2012/13		 953 696 218 251 73% 23% 26%
Annual av.
1980/81–2012/133		 29 21 7 8 73% 23% 26%
1980/81 30 27 10 16 90% 33% 53%
1981/82 28 19 9 10 68% 32% 36%
1982/83 21 17 7 9 81% 33% 43%
1983/84 21 15 7 5 71% 33% 24%
1984/85 34 27 8 6 79% 24% 18%
1985/86 42 32 12 19 76% 29% 45%
1986/87 30 18 8 11 60% 27% 37%
1987/88 40 23 6 7 58% 15% 18%
1988/89 21 15 3 5 71% 14% 24%
1989/90 34 21 10 8 62% 29% 24%
Annual av. 1980s 30 21 8 10 70% 27% 33%
Total
1980/81–1989/90		 301 214 80 96 71% 27% 32%
1990/91 27 22 8 9 81% 30% 33%
1991/92 29 19 5 4 66% 17% 14%
1992/93 22 13 3 6 59% 14% 27%
1993/94 28 20 8 10 71% 29% 36%
1994/95 15 11 3 4 73% 20% 27%
1995/96 23 20 5 9 87% 22% 39%
1996/97 33 28 5 11 85% 15% 33%
1997/98 35 22 5 5 63% 14% 14%
1998/99 29 21 7 9 72% 24% 31%
1999/00 27 21 5 5 78% 19% 19%
Annual av. 1990s 27 20 5 7 74% 19% 26%
Total
1990/91–1999/00		 268 197 54 72 74% 20% 27%
2000/01 25 17 5 7 68% 20% 28%
2001/02 27 26 8 8 96% 30% 30%
2002/03 19 17 3 3 89% 16% 16%
2003/04 22 17 5 7 77% 23% 32%
2004/05 29 18 8 6 62% 28% 21%
2005/06 32 25 6 6 78% 19% 19%
2006/07 30 23 5 6 77% 17% 20%
2007/08 39 31 8 7 79% 21% 18%
2008/09 38 27 5 6 71% 13% 16%
2009/10 42 29 10 9 69% 24% 21%
Annual av. 2000s 30 23 6 7 76% 21% 21%
Total
2000/01–2009/10		 303 230 63 65 76% 21% 21%
2010/11 22 11 6 4 50% 27% 18%
2011/12 32 24 10 10 75% 31% 31%
2012/13 27 20 5 4 74% 19% 15%

Source: Compiled by Screen Australia.

Notes:
1. No. starting principal photography in each year. Includes Australian productions, official co-productions and other productions with overseas partners where creative control is shared (i.e. with a mix of Australians in key creative positions).
2. Figures may increase as more titles are released.
3. Proportion calculated on unrounded averages.

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