The future of cinema: Can South African theatres thrive in a streaming world?
Can the cinema industry in South Africa survive in an age of streaming?
In an age where streaming services offer an endless number of films at our fingertips, the global cinema industry faces challenges, grappling with declining audiences and escalating operational costs.
Despite the closure of several cinemas nationwide, Ster Kinekor is confident that this year will be a good year, as it recorded its biggest 'out of season' weekend admissions of 2025 last weekend.
'This once again is proof that cinema is alive and well, and that audiences still prefer watching the new release of a blockbuster title on the big screen. It also proves that movie magic is not regulated by the calendar,' said Mark Sardi, chief executive officer of Ster-Kinekor.
The strong showing was fuelled by two major releases: the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch and the latest Mission: Impossible film, Final Reckoning.
Across South Africa, several theatres have closed their doors over the past year, including long-running venues at Bedford Square in Johannesburg, Gateway in Umhlanga, and most recently, Cavendish Square in Cape Town. These closures follow years of pressure from streaming services, shifting consumer habits, and the lasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cinema chain Nu Metro recently took over the Bedford Square site previously occupied by Ster-Kinekor. It is expected to take over the Ster Kinekor cinema complex at Gateway.
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2 hours ago
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Can South African cinemas survive in a streaming-dominated world?
Can the cinema industry in South Africa survive in an age of streaming? In an age where streaming services offer an endless number of films at our fingertips, the global cinema industry faces challenges, grappling with declining audiences and escalating operational costs. Despite the closure of several cinemas nationwide, Ster Kinekor is confident that this year will be a good year, as it recorded its biggest 'out of season' weekend admissions of 2025 last weekend. 'This once again is proof that cinema is alive and well, and that audiences still prefer watching the new release of a blockbuster title on the big screen. It also proves that movie magic is not regulated by the calendar,' said Mark Sardi, chief executive officer of Ster-Kinekor. The strong showing was fuelled by two major releases: the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch and the latest Mission: Impossible film, Final Reckoning. Across South Africa, several theatres have closed their doors over the past year, including long-running venues at Bedford Square in Johannesburg, Gateway in Umhlanga, and most recently, Cavendish Square in Cape Town. These closures follow years of pressure from streaming services, shifting consumer habits, and the lasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cinema chain Nu Metro recently took over the Bedford Square site previously occupied by Ster-Kinekor. It is expected to take over the Ster Kinekor cinema complex at Gateway.
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a day ago
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The future of cinema: Can South African theatres thrive in a streaming world?
Can the cinema industry in South Africa survive in an age of streaming? In an age where streaming services offer an endless number of films at our fingertips, the global cinema industry faces challenges, grappling with declining audiences and escalating operational costs. Despite the closure of several cinemas nationwide, Ster Kinekor is confident that this year will be a good year, as it recorded its biggest 'out of season' weekend admissions of 2025 last weekend. 'This once again is proof that cinema is alive and well, and that audiences still prefer watching the new release of a blockbuster title on the big screen. It also proves that movie magic is not regulated by the calendar,' said Mark Sardi, chief executive officer of Ster-Kinekor. The strong showing was fuelled by two major releases: the live-action remake of Lilo & Stitch and the latest Mission: Impossible film, Final Reckoning. Across South Africa, several theatres have closed their doors over the past year, including long-running venues at Bedford Square in Johannesburg, Gateway in Umhlanga, and most recently, Cavendish Square in Cape Town. These closures follow years of pressure from streaming services, shifting consumer habits, and the lasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cinema chain Nu Metro recently took over the Bedford Square site previously occupied by Ster-Kinekor. It is expected to take over the Ster Kinekor cinema complex at Gateway.
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Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, Cruise control
Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt has to do the impossible on-screen for possibly one last time. Is Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning the explosive send off this blockbuster action hero deserves? 'Don't think about it', Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt tells Grace (Hayley Atwell) in an early scene of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. 'It's only pain.' The scene in question has to do with the potential torture of our hero and heroine at the hands of some ne'er-do-wells, but Cruise may as well have been talking about the obtuse plot in this eighth and (probably) final entry in the blockbuster franchise. Ever since director Brian De Palma first brought the classic Mission: Impossible TV series to the big screen nearly 30 years ago, there's always been an overt silliness to the stories of these films. This has always been the price of entry to watch the now-62-year-old Cruise sans stunt double defy both ageing and the laws of physics time after time to give us the greatest practical action blockbuster filmmaking in Hollywood bar none. The reward for this transaction is spectacular here once again. The back half of the film's colossal 2h49m running time features two staggering action sequences that deserve to be experienced in the biggest and best format possible: A breathlessly claustrophobic deep sea diving section pulled straight out of anxious nightmares, and an extended set piece filmed here in South Africa that sees Cruise's super-agent fighting the villainous Gabriel (Esai Morales) in, on top of, underneath, and between a pair of biplanes hundreds of meters above the ground. That last action beat, in particular, belongs on the list of all-time great aerial stunts. It's just a pity that, despite how Cruise and returning franchise director/co-writer Chris McQuarrie go out of their way to show that their leading man needs no help to pull off these insane feats, they also feel that the audience needs all the handholding they can possibly give. If you can't remember what transpired in 2023's The Final Reckoning, don't fear. The Final Reckoning (originally billed as 'Dead Reckoning – Part 2' of this bifurcated blockbuster) opens with a lengthy and clumsy recap sequence in the form of a message from ex-CIA-Head-turned-US-President Erika Sloane (Angela Basset, reprising her role from 2018's Mission: Impossible – Fallout) outlining the very situation he lived through to a laughably befuddled-looking Hunt. To keep it more succinct: A bleeding-edge AI program, originally deployed to disrupt the Sevastrapol, a high-tech Russian submarine, went rogue and evolved into a sentient digital god. Dubbed 'the Entity', its one weakness was a copy of its pre-sentience source code left behind in the computer core of the Sevastropol, sunk to the bottom of the ocean and secured with a high-tech cruciform key that has since shown up on the black market. The Final Reckoning ended with Hunt besting Gabriel, the entity's chosen human avatar, and claiming the key, but not before suffering the loss of a close compatriot. As we pick up events again, Hunt has refused to turn said key over to his superiors, fearing they would use it to control the Entity for their own personal gain. Once again declared rogue, Hunt and his team now set out to find out the lost location of the Sevastrapol and extract the Entity's proto-code, while various forces try to aid or hinder them. Some of those forces originate from Hunt's former on-screen exploits. You will know this, because the movie will tell you this. Multiple times. While this reviewer loves a narrative deep cut and some returning faces (who won't be spoiled here) are really fun fan-service, a noticeable chunk of The Final Reckoning's opening hour is spent on ham-handed flashbacks and repeated plot points. In a film with a bladder-bursting run time, these moments all add up unnecessarily. As for Hunt's plan to stop the Entity's global domination plans… Well, honestly, most people couldn't tell you the details. You know what he wants to do, but the how is completely lost in a gobbledygook soup of random made-up tech terms and clear-as-mud character motivations. The result is an admittedly razor wire-tense finale where various moving parts all have to fall into place with split-second precision, but trying to understand the orbital mechanics of these various aspects is brain-breaking. If The Final Reckoning's opening half sounds like a total slog at this point, know that it's not. Despite the occasionally gawky plotting, there are some really entertaining beats to be found here. Hunt and newly recruited IMF agent Grace pulling off a comically violent escape sequence is a definite highlight, showcasing the leading man charisma Cruise can still switch on with ease and also making viewers wonder once more why Hayley Atwell isn't a franchise-leading megastar in her own right. And it's actually a lot of that type of inter-character rapport that keeps things moving along nicely, with the likes of franchise stalwarts Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames giving their beloved characters Benji Dunn and Luther Stickell some solid moments. The always impressive Basset's turn as the US President absolutely classes up the joint as well, with McQuarrie stacking the boardroom table around her with such character actor standouts as Holt McCallany, Nick Offerman, Janet McTeer, Mark Gattis, and Charles Parnell. Meanwhile, a pair of smaller roles heavily threaten to steal the spotlight when Hannah Waddingham shows up as a heartfelt US Navy Admiral running an aircraft carrier, while Severance breakout Tramell Tillman captains a submarine with devilish charm. There are plenty of other fan-favourites found throughout the expansive cast. If there's one dud among them, though, it's Esai Morales' Gabriel. No fault of the usually dynamic actor, but outside of spouting fortune cookie platitudes, the character brings almost nothing to the table this time around, despite his fantastic villainous showing in the previous film. What a waste. At the end of the day, audiences are just showing up to see one man. Cruise has never given less than 100% for this gig, and he's not about to start now. And thanks to his full-spectrum commitment, it's quite easy to forgive the slightly cheesy messianic treatment Hunt gets here (he literally holds the key to saving all of humanity in his hands). Even when the script's push of Hunt's dedication to his 'family' veers into the type of thematic territory that would have Vin Diesel searching for the number of a good copyright lawyer, Cruise makes it work. Maybe for the last time. Although not definitively confirmed, it's been heavily suggested that The Final Reckoning is Cruise's cinematic curtain call as Ethan Hunt. Despite how physically impressive he still looks when stripping down to his underwear before engaging in a casual near-naked knife fight, the actor has footed the bill for our entertainment with his very blood and bones for three decades, and he can only do that for so long. If this is truly it for Mission: Impossible, The Final Reckoning gives Ethan Hunt a last hurrah bigger in scope and threat than anything that's come before. It's not as slick and polished as some of its predecessors – you will have 'choose to accept' the mission of overlooking its especially impenetrable plot and uneven first half – but it's still an explosive conclusion. DM
