CJ 4DPlex closed out 2018 by breaking records in box office and attendance with its 4DX immersive seating cinema technology. Theatres with the technology accounted for more than $290 million in worldwide box office and attracted more than 24 million attendees for the year.
For 4DX, 2018 was its best yearly performance to date. Attendance and box office increased 26 percent in comparison to last year’s record of 19 million moviegoers and $230 million at the box office. Additionally, more new 4DX locations opened in 2018 than any other year in history, with 139 new 4DX sites opening in 30 countries.
The top seven 4DX markets – China, Japan, US, Korea, Mexico, France, and the UK – brought in more than 15.7 million moviegoers, accounted for more than 65 percent of total attendees in 2018, with all markets breaking records from 2017. In terms of box office gross, the U.S. and Korean market had an increase of 16 percent and 45 percent, respectively. In the UK, box office gross increased 51 percent from 2017. And in France, yearly admission surpassed the one million mark with the box office gross increasing 600 percent from $3.3 million to $23.5 million.
4DX’s success this year can be tied to 10 Hollywood blockbusters titles, which grossed $162 million combined and accounted for about 56 percent of the 4DX global box office in 2018.
The top 10 4DX films of the year were:
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Black Panther
Ready Player One
Avengers: Infinity War
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
The Meg
Venom
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Aquaman
Local titles from Japan, China, France, and Korea also contributed to the success, attracting more than 2.4 million moviegoers and contributing to the strong box office success this year.
“We are thrilled to report that this year 4DX set a new box office record of $290 million,” said CJ 4DPlex CEO JongRyul Kim. “We have had great success both expanding our theaters worldwide and partnering with major Hollywood titles. We look forward to continuing to create a next-generation cinema trend that gives the movie fans around the world an exciting reason to go to 4DX theatres.”