Is there a new Filipino cinema audience?

MANILA, Philippines – Despite higher cinema ticket prices in 2023, the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 49th edition is on track to set a new record high, indicating a more discerning audience for Philippine movies. The MMFF announced on January 7, Sunday, that the annual holiday film festival grossed P1 billion in ticket sales, and with the one-week extension for the festival, it will likely set a new box office record. A closer look at the numbers, however, reveals that despite the higher ticket sales, the actual number of movie-goers in the MMFF has actually declined. When the MMFF set a record high of P1.06 billion in 2018, ticket prices were around P250 each, which means that roughly 4.24 million…