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After plunging during the pandemic, Brazil’s theatrical market has been recovering since 2021, but the pace of the recovery has been hampered this year by 2023’s Hollywood double strike.

Total ticket sales in the country sharply decreased from 173 million in 2019 to just 39 million in 2020, according to Brazil’s cinema agency Ancine. Sales then increased significantly year by year and reached 114 million in 2023, giving the impression that a full recovery to the pre-pandemic level was soon to be achieved.

But the lack of a regular offer of U.S. blockbusters, a reflection of the Hollywood double strike, slowed the growth pace. Total ticket sales amounted to 91 million from Jan. to Sept. 25 this year, up just 1.6% from the same period in 2023. Accumulated B.O. in the period totalled 1.8 billion reais ($331 million), up just 1.1% from last year.

“The suspension of productions, closure of cinemas and calendar changes due to the pandemic led the...

There is a tremendous demand for Brazilian features at domestic cinemas right now due to a combination of recently established federal government quotas for local pics and the low supply of U.S. blockbusters resulting from last year’s Hollywood strikes, said participants of this year’s Expocine, Latin America’s largest theatrical distribution-based industry event held in Sao Paulo.

A presidential decree set the quotas for 2024. Exhibitors with more than 200 screens must reserve 16% of their screenings for Brazilian pics. The percentage is lower for smaller exhibitors, dropping to 7.5% for exhibitors with just one screen.

The decree also establishes a 50% limit of occupation for a single pic – usually a U.S. blockbuster – in an exhibitor’s circuit. If an exhibitor chooses to screen a blockbuster in more than half of their screening sessions, it must compensate within the year with screenings of local pics above the quota.

Marcelo Lima, CEO of Tonks,...