Family films fuelled the festive season, delivering two million admissions across Q4.
In New Zealand, two million cinema admissions were delivered from October to December 2024 —a +18% increase on PY. This growth was fuelled by the success of Moana 2, Wicked, Gladiator II, The Wild Robot, and Mufasa: The Lion King.
The first weekend of 2025 marked a strong start to the year, with 147,000 admissions—+16% increase on STLY.
The New Zealand box office delivered a powerful finish to 2024, with two million admissions recorded from October to December—up +18% on PY.
A strong lineup of youth titles and family films fuelled the festive season, driving growth of +14% across the P18-39 demographic, and +22% within P25-54 demographic.
The standouts of Q4.
Since releasing on 28 November, Moana 2 has continued to make waves and smash records as the biggest movie of the summer.
The film has grossed $8.3 million at the NZ box office and is the third highest grossing animation of all time. Over Q4, it delivered 429,000 admissions and continues to attract strong audiences.
Wicked defied gravity with over 247,000 admissions and $5.2 million at the box office. Globally, the film has broken the record of the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation in history, overtaking Mamma Mia which was released in 2008.
The Wild Robot, Gladiator II and Mufasa: The Lion King drove strong box office and admissions results, while Bollywood film, Pushpa: The Rule – Part 2 delivered the fifth highest grossing Indian film of all time.
A strong start to 2025
The first weekend of 2025 at the box office marked a strong start to the year, with 147,000 admissions—a +16% increase on STLY, driven by family films.
Topping the weekend audience was Boxing Day release, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 with 29,000 admissions. It opened to a franchise high, +53% greater than the first film, and is set to become the biggest film in the franchise.
Mufasa: The Lion King was the second biggest film of the weekend and delivered 26,000 admissions.
Paddington in Peru also delivered 26,000 admissions and achieved the franchise’s biggest box office opening weekend result, with a +56% bigger opening than the original Paddington from 2014.
The results of Q4 and the strong performance of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Mufasa: The Lion King, and Paddington in Peru last weekend has generated significant momentum as we enter the new year and will help maintain solid admissions throughout the rest of the school holidays,” said Matt Tremain, Sales Director of Val Morgan Cinema in New Zealand.
Looking ahead, 2025 is set to deliver a slate that has never been bigger, driven by an extensive stockpile of franchise and original content from the writers' strikes.
Among the cultural moments that are set to connect with Family, Youth and NEO audiences in H1 include Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy on Valentine’s Day, A Minecraft Movie in April, the final instalment of Mission Impossible 8 in May, the third film in the cult classic 28 Years Later in mid-June, and then F1 at the end of June.
*Source: CineTAM 2024/2025, Numero