European Heatwave Impacts Box Office as Audiences Seek Air Conditioning

When schools across the U.K. closed early last week as record-breaking temperatures touched on 100 F, marking the hottest June on record, there was one noticeable benefactor.

Reports from cinemas up and down the country were of packed-out screenings during otherwise quiet, mid-afternoon slots. Parents, stuck for options to keep their kids both entertained and cool (and crucially give themselves some quiet time to complete work emails), were seen charging from the school gates straight to air-conditioned theater lobbies.

Europe’s early-summer heatwave last week — now considered the most severe and widespread in modern history — has been a major cause for concern, with much of the continent sweltering under record-breaking temperatures. Understandably, given the dangers, few are willing to celebrate any profiting off the back of this situation.

But stats back up the anecdotal evidence about a heatwave bump in cinemas admission — and with one major movie scooping the rewards.

“Toy Story 5” had already landed the biggest U.K. debut of the year last weekend, with a spectacular $20.2 million opening and a 72% domination of ticket sales in its first three days. But, thanks to the heatwave, it kept the momentum going into week number two.

Figures on June 29 showed that “Toy Story 5’s” cumulative U.K. box office had reached $38.6 million. But much of that addition was earned mid-week (temperatures actually had dropped across the U.K. by Saturday and Sunday).

Phil Clapp, CEO of the U.K. Cinema Association, told Variety that while heatwaves can provide a welcome boost to ticket sales, “there’s always a worry that it will be SO hot that people won’t come out of their homes at all.”

However he added that did not seem to have been the case this past week, with “Toy Story 5” enjoying “daily box office well in excess of £1 million [$1.3 million] this last week even on the hottest days.”

While Odeon and Picturehouse, two of the U.K.’s most prominent cinema chains, declined to offer specific box office numbers, spokespeople for both emphasized that movie-going is a relatively weather-proof activity. “Cinemas continue to offer a great day out whatever the weather,” a spokesperson for Odeon said in a statement, while Picturehouse said: “It’s always great to see families in our cinemas. Going to the cinema is an all-weather activity, rain or heatwave, and our £3 child ticket offer is drawing families across Picturehouse Cinemas.”

While for many, cinemas were a rare sanctuary of air conditioning in a country largely ill-equipped to deal with extreme temperatures, it wasn’t always the case. Perhaps another reason why exhibitors have been reluctant to discuss the impact of the heatwave is that, across all cinema chains, there were reports of many air conditioning units failing, leaving audiences (almost) as hot as they were outside.

In France — where temperatures soared even higher — Variety hears that the number of broken units led to many having to limit capacities. However Marc-Olivier Sebbag, general delegate of the National Federation of French Cinemas, told Le Monde that local cinemas had recorded 50% more audiences in the week June 17 to 23 compared to the previous year and 36% more than the same week pre-Covid (from 2017-2019).