Barbie, Oppenheimer, and The Super Mario Brothers Movie were the top three cinema releases in 2023 in terms of box office revenue in Ireland.
Total box office revenues in Ireland last year reached €101m, up 10% on 2022 figures.
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% on 2019 figures, there was an 8.3% 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% of works classified for cinema screening were in the PG, 12A or 15A categories.
Some 12% 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%) accounted for the most films categorised for Irish cinema release last year, marginally ahead of India (27%). This was followed by the UK (15%); Rest of the World (13%); Europe (11%) and Ireland (6%).
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% of the works we classified for cinema screening last year met the criteria for an advisory classification.”
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.”
Details of IFCO’s classification guidelines, along with its classification decisions for all current and upcoming cinema releases can be found on www.ifco.ie. As set out in its Strategy Statement 2023-2025, IFCO will publish a draft revised set of guidelines in 2024 as part of a public consultation process.
IFCO is also introducing a new complaints process, which will come into effect on 1st February next. Details are available on the IFCO website.
