American-made films dominated the local cinema scene last year, according to figures published by the National Statistics Office.

Last year, cinemas registered a total of 757,203 admissions, with 86.8 per cent of cinemagoers opting for films originating from the United States.

Maltese productions attracted just 1.5 per cent of total admissions.

For Maltese productions there were 11,710 admissions with total gross box office receipts of €62,000 corresponding to 436 screenings.

Foreign productions had 745,493 admissions with total gross box offi ce receipts of €4.8 million in 50,360 screenings.

Film titles exhibited in 2017 totalled 409 while total screenings amounted to 50,796, an average of 124 screenings per film.

In the reference year, 916 film shows were projected, of which 84.2 per cent were first-time releases.

Admissions to 3D movies accounted for 22.9 per cent of the total while digital non-3D fillms had a 76.3 per cent share.

242 fiction films were screened in cinemas across Malta and Gozo, which drew 76.8 per cent of total admissions. Animation films numbered 32, attracting 21.6 per cent.

The most popular movie was ‘Beauty and the Beast’, having 8.4 per cent of total admissions. ‘The Fate of the Furious’ and ‘Despicable Me 3’ gained 3.4 per cent apiece of audiences.

There are a total of eight active cinema establishments, with a total of 35 screens and a combined seating capacity of 6,772. Two cinemas are located in Gozo.

In 2017, cinemas employed an average of 177 persons, the majority on a part-time basis.