Irish Box Office revenue was up €101 million in 2023, with smash hit movies Barbie and Oppenheimer leading the way.
The Irish Film Classification Office (Ifco) classified a total of 1,134 theatrical works in 2023. This includes feature films, short films, and cinema trailers.
While feature films (512) and shorts (17) were up 4 per cent on 2019 figures, there was an 8.3 per cent drop in the number of trailers submitted for classification (605).
This coincided with the Sag-Aftra actors’ strike. Overall, the number of theatrical works classified last year is almost back to the 2019 pre-pandemic peak of 1,169.
In line with Ifco’s role in providing "trusted guidance", more than 75 per cent of works classified for cinema screening were in the PG, 12A or 15A categories. Some 12 per cent were in the 16s category. Seven per cent of films classified in 2023 received an over-18s certificate.
Films originating in the United States (28 per cent) accounted for the most films categorised for Irish cinema release last year, marginally ahead of India (27 per cent). This was followed by the UK (15 per cent); rest of the world (13 per cent); Europe (11 per cent) and Ireland (6 per cent).
Total box office revenue was €101 million, up 10 per cent on 2022 figures. Barbie, Oppenheimer, and The Super Mario Brothers Movie were the top three cinema releases in 2023 in terms of box office revenue.
Commenting, director of film classification, Dr Ciarán Kissane said: “Every film shown in cinemas in Ireland – bar cinema clubs – must be classified by Ifco ahead of screening. As the film classifier, our aim is to give audiences the information to allow them to make an informed decision on what they – or their children – see at the cinema. We publish our classification decisions on our website – www.ifco.ie - ahead of each film’s release. This sets out clearly and simply our classification decision - more than 75 per cent of the works we classified for cinema screening last year met the criteria for an advisory classification.”
Cinema matching pre-pandemic peak
He added: “We are also pleased to see cinema returning to its 2019 pre-pandemic peak. The screen actors’ and writers’ strike, while focused in the US, had an impact here in the form of the number of movie trailers classified for Ireland. This is because the strikes resulted in uncertainty around the 2023/2024 release schedule. Last year, we classified 1,134 works for cinema release, in 2024, we anticipate this will be more than 1,200.”
Ifco is also responsible for classifying home entertainment DVD and Blu-Ray in Ireland. It classified 978 such works in 2023 (down from 1,532 in 2022). This comprised 542 feature films, 406 DVD extras (interviews etc), and 30 trailers. Just 5 per cent of these received an over-18s rating.
Just under 280,000 DVD and Blu-Ray discs were sold in Ireland in 2023. As with the 2023 cinema releases, Barbie, Oppenheimer, and The Super Mario Brothers Movie also topped the home entertainment charts, based on the number of units sold.
