How event cinema specialist Trafalgar Releasing became a top 10 UK distributor | Features | Screen
Over the past two years, event cinema specialist Trafalgar Releasing has moved into the top 10 UK and Ireland distributors by market share, posting box-office numbers comparable to those of more traditional film distribution companies such as Lionsgate or Black Bear.
In 2023, takings surged largely thanks to the ‘Swifties’. Trafalgar distributed Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, the concert film that grossed $262m globally — and $16.6m (£12.3m) in UK and Ireland cinemas.
Without such a blockbuster event in its 2024 release portfolio, Trafalgar’s UK and Ireland haul inevitably dipped last year — but the company remained among the territory’s top 10 distributors, accruing a 1.5% market share across a busy 66 titles. And Trafalgar, which acquired rival More2Screen in 2019, is top of the event cinema pile.
| Title | Box office | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Macbeth: David Tennant & Cush Jumbo | $3.4m (£2.5m) |
| 2 | Pink Floyd At Pompeii — MCMLXXII | $1.1m (£786,000) |
| 3 | Chosen: The Last Supper — Episodes 1 & 2 | $800,000 (£594,000) |
| 4 | Romeo & Juliet — Royal Opera House | $736,000 (£546,000) |
| 5 | Swan Lake — Royal Opera House | $653,000 (£485,000) |
Providing a notable boost in 2024 was Trafalgar’s 15th-anniversary reissue of Laika’s stop-motion animation classic Coraline, grossing $4.9m (£3.6m) in the UK and Ireland, more than double last year’s second-highest-grossing re-release, Disney’s Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Coraline was also the UK and Ireland’s top 3D release in 2024.
Trafalgar did further strong business on Peppa’s Cinema Party, aimed at pre-school and family audiences, grossing a handy $2.3m (£1.7m) in the UK and Ireland.
Although event cinema box office in the territory dipped slightly overall in 2024, down to $44.1m (£32.7m) from a Swift-boosted $51m (£37.8m) the year before, the sector continues to flourish.
So far this year, Universal has scored a giant $7.7m (£5.7m) UK and Ireland hit with Six The Musical, Trafalgar hit $3.4m (£2.5m) with Macbeth: David Tennant & Cush Jumbo, NT Live has enjoyed several successes including The Importance Of Being Earnest ($2.2m/£1.6m), and CinemaLive grossed $1.8m (£1.3m) with a re-release of 2019 event cinema hit Les Miserables: The Staged Concert.
Marc Allenby, CEO of Trafalgar Releasing since 2017, was still at Brunel University when he began to work part-time as an usher at Richmond Filmhouse (now Curzon Richmond) in the mid-1990s. “I’ve never left,” he jokes of a career in the film business that stretches over 30 years.
Allenby describes Trafalgar’s core business as “global event releasing”, and the company’s reach is huge. “With the exception of Russia and Belarus, we pretty much can distribute anywhere — our largest releases surpass 125 countries,” he says. “Ultimately, the reach is driven by the property we are representing.”
The UK accounts for a relatively small portion of Trafalgar’s overall revenues. In 2022-23, UK receipts were $5.9m (£4.4m), those from the US totalled $16.3m (£12.1m), and $22.7m (£16.8m) were from the rest of the world (source: Companies House).
On Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, Trafalgar Releasing was behind distribution in territories ranging from Albania, Armenia and Uzbekistan to Zambia, Sri Lanka and St Kitts.
The strategy is still all about “uniting fanbases and audiences with content they already identify with”, says Allenby. “That’s the same methodology we apply to music and theatre, where we’ve had great success.”
Allenby and his staff of 37 people — with offices in London, New York, Denver and Los Angeles — take advantage when an opportunity for a more traditional film release arises. They are as enthusiastic about handling the re-issue of an iconoclastic comedy like Monty Python’s Life Of Brian as they are about religious franchise The Chosen. The slate includes children’s fare and concert movies, such as Pink Floyd At Pompeii — MCMLXXII.
Trafalgar handles upscale art forms including ballet and opera but Allenby argues that “event cinema in its origins is democratising”. He cites Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour as the perfect example: “It was a sell-out tour, much publicised about the ticket sales and price of resale tickets. By taking it to cinemas, we allowed people who would not otherwise be able to see the Eras Tour to see it in a great environment.” The same applies to West End theatre or New York opera, where tickets can cost hundreds of pounds or dollars.
In plotting a release, the company draws on its exhaustive audience “databases” and uses social channels to target fans precisely. Traditional PR also plays a part, albeit a seemingly smaller one.
Trafalgar Releasing is part of the Trafalgar Entertainment empire formed by theatre impresarios Rosemary Squire and Howard Panter (who previously ran the Ambassador Theatre Group). It came into existence after Picturehouse’s distribution division Picturehouse Entertainment was restructured through a management buyout from owner Cineworld in 2017. Arthouse exhibition veteran Lyn Goleby acquired the company through Moonlight Acquisitions, which was then bought by Squire and Panter, and rebranded as Trafalgar.
Goleby herself “reduced her commitments to the business a couple of years ago”, says Allenby. She stepped back to a consultancy role in March 2023, and has since returned as interim executive chair at Picturehouse Cinemas.
“We meet Rosemary and Howard on a regular basis,” says Allenby. “They are across our business and offer observations and input. They have been incredibly supportive and basically backed every idea that has been presented. They have really supported our growth. We’ve increased our Ebitda seven or eightfold in that period.”
Occasionally, Trafalgar Releasing will distribute the parent company’s shows into cinemas. This has happened with Kiss Me Kate, Anything Goes and The King And I.
Trafalgar’s saturation releases will now go out on 600 or more UK and Ireland screens in both arthouse and multiplex venues. “It’s a healthy relationship of mutual benefit,” says Allenby. “Ultimately, we’re all after the same thing, which is to fill the auditorium. That’s the goal. We’ve all been through great times and tough times together.
“From my perspective, this is part of how we ensure cinema remains relevant and people leave the house. We have to offer a premium experience. That can be done through specialised formats, customer services, great seats, great sound, food and beverage offerings. These are all tools in our collective armoury.”
Underlining its global focus, Trafalgar is continuing its flirtation with Korean K-Pop, having done roaring business with several event releases starring South Korean boyband BTS, including BTS: Yet To Come, which achieved a global box office of $40m in 2023.
The company is also getting more involved in production, and has funded titles including Imagine Dragons: Live From The Hollywood Bowl, the concert film featuring US pop rock band Imagine Dragons and the Los Angeles Film Orchestra, and Coldplay Live Broadcast From Buenos Aires. “It is less about changing the types of releases we’re doing but about doing more to secure the pipeline, have skin in the game and create events,” explains Allenby. “That means we can have more influence on when things come and how they arrive.”
