Mark Cinemas (NYSE: CNK)
Income statement for the fourth quarter of 2022
Feb 24 , 2023 8:30 AM
Contents:
- Prepared notes
- Question and Answer
- Contact the participants
Prepared notes:
operator or worker
Hello, and welcome to Cinemark Holdings' fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 earnings report. [Operator Instructions] The official presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session. [Operator Help] Please note that this conference is being recorded. I'd now like to turn the floor over to Chanda Brashears, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations.
thanks a lot. You can start.
Chanda Prashes - Senior Vice President, Investor Relations
Good morning all. I'd like to welcome you to Cinemark Holdings, Inc.'s fourth quarter earnings conference call. Hosted by Sean Gamble, President and CEO; and Chief Financial Officer Melissa Thomas. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that statements or comments made on this conference call may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, financial projections or other statements regarding the Company's plans, goals, expectations or intentions.
These things involve some risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements due to various factors. For information about factors that could cause results to differ materially, see most recent 10-K filings. In addition, today's announcement may include non-GAAP financial information.
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A comparison of these non-GAAP financial ratios with the most comparable GAAP financial ratios is available in the company's most recent earnings release, 10-K, and on the company's website at ir.cinemark.com. In the comments made today, we'll refer to the fourth quarter of 2019 for comparison, unless otherwise noted. As usual, we filed a $10,000 return this morning along with our tax return. Please note that, as in the last quarter, the offering is a joint offering of Cinemark Holdings and Cinemark USA.
While the differences between the two financial groups are minimal, I wanted to reiterate this one. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Sean Gamble.
Sean Gamble - President and CEO
Thanks Chanda and good morning everyone. Thanks for joining us today to discuss our fourth quarter and full year 2022 results. As we recently transitioned from 2022 to 2023, we thought it would be constructive to share some of our key observations from the past year. First, and perhaps most importantly, people still want to go to the movies.
Consumers' unwavering passion for cinema is underscored throughout 2022 across all film genres, audiences and seasons. In the past quarter, I highlighted a wide range of films that were doing better than they did before the pandemic, in many cases setting new all-time records. Some examples include blockbusters like Batman, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Top Gun: Maverick; family movies like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Minions: The Rise of Gru; horror films like Black Phone and Smile; adult dramas like Elvis and the Crawdads Sing; and special features such as "Permission to Dance on Stage", a live concert by BTS, "All Once, Everywhere"; and multicultural films such as RRR. Consumers' desire to experience content in an immersive theater environment has only intensified since our last call.
Over the past three months, we've seen Black Panther: Wakanda Forever become the biggest hit at the box office in November, taking in $181 million. The global phenomenon Avatar: The Last Airbender has grossed $2.2 billion worldwide, making it the third highest-grossing film of all time. Family Puss in Boots' Last Wish will earn more than $170 million at the box office, up 14% from the first installment. Horror movie M3GAN is fast approaching $100 million at the box office.
The adult drama "A Man Called Otto" earned $60 million after its premiere on the platform on December 30. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania had the third biggest February opening of all time last weekend with a domestic debut of over $100 million. In addition, we continue to see a lot of interest in films and special events such as Pathaan, the largest North American opening for a Bollywood film ever; Choice 3, which generated unprecedented demand from religious audiences, selling out theaters across the country; Recorded concerts that continue to thrill music fans, including Billie Eilish Live at the O2 and BTS - more coming to cinemas. The impressive performance of this wide range of titles clearly shows that consumers are more excited than ever to see exciting movies and events in cinemas.
If these examples from last year weren't enough, the continued demand for Cinemark Movie Club, our monthly membership program, proves it. After fully revitalizing the Kinema Club last July, it has returned to rapid growth and now has 1.1 million members, surpassing the pre-pandemic member base of 950,000. Additionally, Film Club members accounted for 22% of our domestic ticket sales in 2022, up 800 basis points from 2019. Cinema Club's continued growth and positive impact on theaters is testament to the many exceptional qualities of the program. So is continued consumer interest in theatrical films.
Which brings me to our second major observation from 2022: Movies perform better when they're in theaters, especially when they have an exclusive run. Theatrical exposure increases the promotional impact and overall value of the film. While this observation is not a new phenomenon, it has been increasingly addressed over the past year by all of our traditional study partners. Building on decades of relationships with VHS, DVD, pay-TV, and free-to-air broadcasting, the studios' diverse theatrical releases not only generate lucrative box office revenues, but also have a greater impact on streaming platforms. To Subscribe - Attract, retain and engage subscribers in the face of increasing local competition.
This is because theatrical films, with adequate marketing, increase consumer awareness and interest in watching movies in all forms of entertainment, reviving events and increasing their perceived quality. This realization leads to greater recognition, memorization, and stability of stage names. Additionally, watching films in a shared cinematic environment creates stronger emotional connections with the stories and characters that help build brands, franchises, and larger cultural moments. It also takes into account the wishes of filmmakers and talents who want to see their films on the big screen.
Now that theaters are back at full capacity and movie productions are back on track, our traditional studio partners are indicating plans to return to pre-pandemic levels, with some plans to expand further. While our industry continues to experience short-term headwinds from declining theatrical showings, a by-product of the pandemic's impact on film production cycles, overall volume continues to rise. We noted last quarter that 85 major releases were announced through 2023. To date, that number has already exceeded 95 and is on track to meet our 100 to 105 overall production forecast for the full year.
While about 130 films were released each year before the pandemic, that's still less than it was in 2022. A notable addition to the 2023 movie slate since our last call is Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's upcoming Air. It will be released exclusively in theaters on April 5th. Over the past year, we have reported that there is a huge opportunity for our industry that more commercial films released by broadcasters may hit theaters. To help build momentum in this direction, we've been running limited releases with multiple broadcasters for several quarters, and we're glad Amazon has decided to significantly ramp up its cinematic ambitions with Air, including the compelling ad it just released. during the Super Bowl.
We believe Amazon's move could be the beginning of a more substantial entry for streaming companies into theatrical entertainment. Given this potential turnaround, as well as the expected increase in film production from our traditional studio partners, we remain very optimistic that film production will continue to recover in the coming years. The third key note we want to share from 2022 is that Cinemark remains strong, stable and resilient thanks to our continued financial and operational discipline and continued commitment to continuous improvement. The year 2022 was marked by a number of significant achievements and milestones for our company, reflecting our strong recovery, improved financial strength and market dominance relative to our industry and peers.
For the full year, we generated adjusted earnings of $336 million, up more than 320% year-over-year, with adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.7%. We also generated $25 million in free cash flow even after paying a significant amount of deferred rent related to the pandemic. Achieving these results requires active planning, prioritization, and flexibility throughout the year to effectively manage a broad range of evolving content, supply chain, workforce, and inflation dynamics. Fortunately, we've benefited from the strong operational foundation and from the many process improvements we've implemented since the start of the pandemic related to human resources, time management, and overall cost control.
These same optimized operating systems, combined with our unwavering focus on guest service, excellent marketing skills, and diverse promotional content and pricing strategies, have delivered box office and attendance results that far exceed industry standards. Compared to 2019, our full-year domestic revenue performance outperformed the North American segment by 500 basis points, while our domestic and international market share increased by more than 100 basis points. Part of our success at the box office is the continued success of Film Club, which I just described. We have also benefited from the significant increase in consumer demand for premium services.
Despite the inflationary situation we will face in 2022, consumers continue to actively convert to premium wide-body cars and electric D-BOX seats at levels well above pre-pandemic rates. In 2022, we reversed this trend with a series of new XD and D-BOX campaigns that helped increase local revenue from XD by approximately 6% and domestic revenue from D-BOX by approximately 48% compared to 2019. Additionally, while PLFs account for 5% Just from our screens, it's 13.6% of global box office revenue, up nearly 400 basis points from 2019. As with our premium services, we've maximized our food and beverage offerings throughout the year. Any direction of cartridge growth.
Through a variety of promotion, pricing and category management strategies, we achieved an all-time high domestic price of $6.98, up 30% from 2019. Our international capitalization also grew significantly by 65% with constant currency. in the same time frame. Our superior results and industry-leading recovery are a direct result of the positive experience we provide our guests; our ongoing financial and operational discipline; And the design, dedication and skill of our outstanding team at Cinemark. I would be remiss if I did not take the time to commend our entire global organization for the hard work, dedication and expertise they have brought to achieve such outstanding results and enable us to tap into the potential for future growth. The sector continues to recover.
This brings us to our final key observation from 2022, which is that Cinemark maintains a strong competitive position with many opportunities ahead. As I just described, the disciplined approach we've taken to operating Cinemark over the years, including measured capital investments, active focus on revenue and profit generation, and strong commitment to improving operations, has positioned us in a strong financial and operating condition. position. . . This is the strategic change of our company. Going forward, we intend to maintain our discipline as we focus on effectively managing this quiet recovery period, expanding content and audience streams, and growing our company to ensure continued success in a dynamic media and entertainment environment. To that end, we are confident in our capabilities, which we have developed for rapid change and adaptability to the market, and we are very optimistic about our ability to capitalize on much of our industry's recovery and the countless opportunities for growth and productivity. It is still under our control.
continuing to improve the experience and value we offer our guests through premium services such as samples, XD, D-BOX, and laser projectors, as well as enhanced discount offerings; increase movie hits through our versatile marketing platforms, broad customer reach, high-performance loyalty programs and data-driven promotions; expanding our strategic relationships with content creators, retail partners, home delivery services, and new e-commerce sales channels; Expanding the recently launched Snacks-In-A-Tap online food and beverage ordering platform by reducing friction in the theater through an improved floor plan and layout design; Achieve significant additional efficiencies and cost savings through continuous workforce management, continuous improvement and procurement initiatives. These various measures will strengthen our core business, generate new revenue streams, streamline our operations and improve our ability to maximize box office revenue and traffic when content is shown on our screens. We look forward to doing just that as we look forward to a promising batch of diverse games coming in 2023 that will thrill all audiences. From action movies like Indiana Jones, Destiny's Call, Fast and Furious X, John Wick 4, and Mission Impossible. Death Wage Part 1" to family movies like "The Little Mermaid" and "Super Mario Bros. Ultimate". and “Elemental”, as well as series with superheroes. Dramas for adults, such as “Oppengeheimer”, “Knizhastic Klub: Следующая капа” and Богатый списон многообещающих игр My Big Greek Wedding 3 2023 года продульвае и дехватся.
Itak, podvedm itog nashim klyuchevým nablyudeniyam for the year 2022 год. Industry Theater continues to continue to expand its reach at the same time to increase users' desire for this direction, and it has the function of cinemas for the studio and for the content. In this gun, fone cinemark.
He introduced Melissa's word, so she's personally known to its co-creator, Lee Roya Michela, which came from his advice to the anonymous director. Li Roy Many of you have had the opportunity to meet Lee Roem at many industry and investigative events over many years, and I'm sure he can confirm spiritually that it's exciting. In the flagship, pushed to the top, Cinemark 1 is the flagship movie theater in the most popular theater leaders.
I am not grateful to Li Royu for the ego rukovodship evaluation and uzukonyu evaluation of the proteasine for many years, and although they will continue to do well, whatever the company, a Tэndi postroili woman, has long been a success. First, Melissa will give you the information you need to know or choose from four classes.
Melissa Thomas - Chief Financial Officer
Thanks Sean. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for coming to today's meeting. In order of 4 star Cinemark, the most popular cinematic game is highly adaptable in the dynamic world. Cinemark served 39.2 million guests nationwide and delivered significant results for the quarter, despite a significant decline in movie volumes during the quarter.
Globally, our revenue was 599.7 million, adjusted EBITDA - 73.5 million, profitability after adjusted EBITDA - 12.3%, which is particularly impressive, given the impact of the decline in film production volumes in the quarter on our continuity in the quarter and the relatively stable шарактер наша пленка. Cost Basis Я Hotel bы join Shonu and with full global leadership to have a good job, just to believe and achieve the result. In the case of the single segment, the cost in the first quarter was €25.1m and $251.1m. Mы po-preznemu operejaem vosstanovlenie kassovыh sborov in North American adults for an apartment, it means that it is very difficult to get 600 points per penny with 2019.
K see, нашаша приночная д nuhat уелилас болерер на 100 базисных пнуть по свенto the largest market will finally be able to step up or be able to see another country in the largest areas and the largest ability to examine the largest market. Because of the small size of the film. $10 in the US, for 19% more, for the entire pandemic, thanks for the context, in many values "Avatra" and James
All of those figures, 16% unrated in XD and IMAX, or more than 500, over 4 quarters of 2019. And for the first time in the circuit he paid $186.5 million in currency and paid it at State Kitchen. It's a record $7.43, up 39% in cash, for a total of four cents in 2019. Our Command generates a lot of work, uses slate movies in quarters with time restrictions, and all other product and product combinations, built in movies and characters.
Strategy and osnovannye in the language nowhere to find, where in the summer. Other revenue was $48.1 million and outperformed attendance rebound rate compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. On the whole in the year part of the category with value of $485.7 million and corrected EBITDA of $59.5 million, at higher resolution of DAESH, at higher resolution of Wednesday's process. Perehodya к нашему mesdunaromun division, served 14.1 million customers.
Четвертый квартал исторический был наименее активным кварталом in Latin America from season to season. The championship was won negatively at the end of Football 2022. Latin America has a written group. In the broker segment, there was $53.5 million in revenue from first tickets, $39.2 million in franchises, and $21.3 million in other revenue in the fourth quarter.
Across all revenue values EBITDA decreased to a value of 12.3%, value top value of $114 million and corrected EBITDA of $114 million. Revenue in Global Reports on Film Rentals and Advertising accounted for 56.9% of first ticket revenue, from more than 70 outlets, each year of 2019. проката фильмов. The higher rating also reflects our ongoing marketing efforts to expand the customer base, increase traffic and build loyalty. In the first place, investments in the marketing of more affordable and more expensive companies, which are very popular.
Raskhody koncessii in the procentah of dohodov concessii is 17.9% for each year of 2019. Hotya mы po-preznemu stalkivaemsya with cepocky limited postok and inflyasionnыm are presented in major secret classes, in time for harvesting in part. وفي етвертом квартале нам печать компенсировать ети образование مساعدة بديلة للمنتجات وفئات الإدارة واستراتيجيات أساليب cenoformovaniyu. بلغت أجورنا ورواتبنا العالمية 95.7 مليون ، وهو ما يقل بنسبة 6٪ عن الربع الرابع من عام 2019 ، ويرجع ذلك أساسًا إلى انخفاض الحضور وتحسين وقت العمل وكفاءة إدارة الموارد البشرية.
تم تعويض هذه العوامل جزئيًا من خلال ارتفاع متوسط معدلات الأجور بالساعة بسبب ديناميكيات سوق العمل والزيادات التي أقرتها الحكومة. نواصل استخدام الأدوات والبيانات لاتخاذ القرار ، مع إيلاء اهتمام خاص للزيادة المؤقتة في الربحية الإجمالية. بلغت مصاريف الإيجار للمباني في الربع الرابع 77.1 مليون دولار أمريكي ، أي بنسبة 7.8٪ أقل بسبب انخفاض الإشغال ، مما أدى إلى انخفاض الإيجار والمصاريف العامة لصيانة المنطقة. وبلغت المصاريف المجتمعية والمصاريف الأخرى 103.4 مليون ، وانخفضت بنسبة 12٪ مقارنة بالربع الرابع من عام 2019. في الأساس ، تم تعويض هذا جزئيًا عن طريق انخفاض تكاليف المشاركة المتغيرة ، وارتفاع معدلات المرافق ، وزيادة معاملات بطاقات الائتمان ، وتوسيع بطاقات الهدايا الخاصة بنا. البرنامج.
بلغت المصروفات الإدارية والعمومية 43.6 مليون ، أي أقل بنسبة 6٪ عن الربع الرابع من عام 2019. وباستبعاد تأثير المكافآت على أساس الأسهم ، انخفضت المصاريف العمومية والإدارية بنسبة 10٪. كانت نفقاتنا العامة والإدارية أقل من مستوى عام 2019 ، مما يعكس انضباطنا المستمر في نفقات الموظفين والنفقات التقديرية ، والتي يتم تعويضها جزئيًا عن طريق الانتقال إلى البرامج السحابية ، والمدفوعات المهنية الأعلى ، والنمو في الأجور والمزايا. في جميع أنحاء العالم ، تلقينا خسارة صافية تُعزى إلى شركة Cinemark Holdings، Inc.
في الربع الرابع بلغت 99.3 مليون دولار مما أدى إلى خسارة 0.82 دولار للسهم. حصلنا على 63 مليون تدفق نقدي حر لهذا الربع و 25 مليون تدفق نقدي حر لهذا العام. رابط الرصيد. لقد أنهينا العام بـ 675 مليون نقدًا.
نواصل اعتبار رصيدنا أحد الأصول الاستراتيجية والفرق الرئيسي. خلال العام ، أنجزنا مهامنا ذات الأولوية لتوزيع رأس المال ، وعززنا ميزانيتنا العمومية ، وسددنا ديوننا الدولية بمبلغ 21 مليون دولار أمريكي وسددنا معظم التزامات الإيجار المؤجلة المتبقية التي نشأت أثناء الوباء. هذا ما تمكنا من القيام به من خلال الاستمرار في الاستثمار في منظور طويل الأجل. В течение года мы инвестировали 111 миллионов долларов в капитальные затраты на модернизацию и обслуживание наших кинотеатров, при этом часть расходов, первоначально запланированных на 2022 год, была перенесена на 2023 год из-за ограничений в цепочке поставок.
В преддверии 2023 года наши приоритеты в распределении капитала сосредоточены на укреплении нашего баланса, в том числе на стратегических инвестициях для укрепления баланса и обеспечения долгосрочного успеха компании. При этом на капитальные вложения в этом году мы планируем потратить около 150 миллионов. Это изменение относительно уровня капитала на 2022 год отражает наши ожидания относительно будущих денежных средств и возмещения свободных денежных средств в 2023 году, а также наш сбалансированный и дисциплинированный подход к размещению капитала. Таким образом, Cinemark по-прежнему имеет хорошие возможности для того, чтобы в полной мере воспользоваться восстановлением отрасли, учитывая сильный баланс, разумные инвестиции и операционное превосходство.
Мы продолжим фокусироваться на стратегических инициативах, которые принесут пользу компании и нашей отрасли в долгосрочной перспективе с целью максимизации акционерной стоимости. Оператор, мы заканчиваем наши подготовленные комментарии по этому поводу и теперь хотели бы открыть линию для вопросов.
Вопросы и ответы:
Оператор
Большое спасибо. Сейчас у нас будет сессия вопросов и ответов. [Operator təlimatları] İlk sualımız David Karnovskinin JP Morgan ilə olan xəttindən gəlir.
Zəhmət olmasa sualınıza davam edin.
David Karnovski -- JPMorgan Chase and Company -- Analitik
salam. Çox sağ ol. Sean, güman edirəm ki, birincisi, bazar payınızda, alternativ məzmundan artımınızın bir hissəsini qeyd etdiniz. BTS və ya Pathaan və ya The Chosen kimi proqramlaşdırmanın davamlı töhfəsini görürük.
Beləliklə, rübdə əldə etdiyiniz pay qazancınızın davamlı olduğunu düşünürsünüzmü və ya film tədarükü artdıqca bunun ikinci rübdə normallaşa biləcəyini düşünürsünüz.
Sean Gamble -- Prezident və Baş İcraçı Direktor
Suala görə təşəkkürlər, David. Şübhəsiz ki, alternativ məzmunun bəzi təsirləri sadəcə orada olan məzmunun həcminə görə dəyişəcək. Bu, bizim xüsusilə meyl etdiyimiz bir sahədir. Mən deyərdim ki, biznesdə ən yaxşı texnologiyalarımız var, xüsusən də canlı hadisələrə gəldikdə.
Beləliklə, bəzi canlı konsertləri bütün dövrəmizdə yayımlamaq imkanımız var ki, bu da bizə üstünlük verir və həmçinin 2022-ci ilin əvvəlində Coldplay konserti və BTS konserti kimi bəzi canlı tədbirlərdə payımızı artırır. Beləliklə, əlbəttə ki, bizə bir parça vermək potensialına malikdir. Mən deyərdim ki, məcmu olaraq, alternativ məzmun hələ də kassaların ümumi faizi kimi nisbətən kiçikdir. Beləliklə, biz hələ də böyümə potensialının olduğunu düşünürük və ümid edirik ki, bu hadisələrin getdikcə daha çoxu həqiqətən ciddi uğur qazandıqca, bu, onun həcminin artmasına səbəb olacaq.
Beləliklə, bu, şübhəsiz ki, həll edə bilər - məncə, dördüncü rübdə alternativ məzmunla gördüklərimizin bir hissəsi, nə üçün həqiqətən bazar payımıza təkan verdiyi baxımından, təəssüf ki, yalnız məhdud ümumi məzmun həcmi idi. Biz gözləyirik ki, bu, 2023-cü il ərzində yekunlaşmağa davam edəcək. Və buna görə də, alternativ məzmunun ümumiyə daha az təsiri olacaq -- bilirsiniz, bizim ümumi payımız, eləcə də cəmi kassada.
David Karnovski -- JPMorgan Chase and Company -- Analitik
TAMAM. Və sonra, bilirsiniz, biz təchizatın axın vasitəsilə gəldiyini gördük, lakin bəzi hallarda bu, həmişə geniş buraxılış və ya tam marketinq təkanını əldə etmir. Bilirsiniz ki, bunların təcrid olunmuş hallar olduğunu və ya yayıma keçməzdən əvvəl məhdud P&A ilə teatrda müəyyən gəlir əldə edəcək bir növ yeni film sinfinin olub-olmadığını düşünürsünüz. Və sonra Çəkməli Pişik haqqında fikirlərinizi öyrənmək maraqlı olardı.
Düşünürəm ki, bu, evdə yayımlandıqdan sonra təxminən 50 milyon qazandı. Bilirsiniz, bunun əsasən ailə filmi olmasının bir funksiyası olduğunu görürsünüz, yoxsa sizcə, EST-də yayımlandıqdan sonra digər janrlar da oxşar şeylər edə bilər? təşəkkürlər.
Sean Gamble -- Prezident və Baş İcraçı Direktor
Əlbəttə. Baxın, axın şirkətlərinin məzmununa gəldikdə, hazırlanmış şərhlərdə qeyd edildiyi kimi, biz uzun müddətdir ki, bunun sənaye üçün həqiqətən böyük bir fürsət olduğunu hiss etdik. Ənənəvi partnyorlarımızdan teatrda nümayiş etdirdikləri filmlərin onların axın platformalarına necə daha böyük faydalar təmin etdiyi haqqında eşitməyə davam etdiyimiz bütün üstünlüklərə baxmayaraq, bilirsiniz ki, biz bir müddət düşündük ki, bu, yalnız vaxt məsələsidir. axın şirkətləri teatra daha əhəmiyyətli bir şəkildə girirlər. Xoşbəxtlikdən biz Amazon-un bu yaxınlarda aldıqları MGM məhsulları ilə bunu etməyə davam etdiyini görürük və indi bunu öz yerli filmi olan Air ilə görürük.
Bizim xoşumuza gəlir -- Apple ilə müzakirələrimizdə bilirik ki, onlar bizə eyni şeyi etmək niyyətləri haqqında oxşar şərhlər verirlər. Beləliklə, biz bunun müsbət istiqamətdə irəlilədiyini görürük. Aydındır ki, sınaqdan keçirdiyimiz bəzi öyrənmələr daha kiçik formada buraxılır, onlar sadəcə olaraq tanıtım baxımından, axın platformalarında yüksəliş baxımından və yalnız maliyyə təsirləri baxımından eyni səviyyədə dəyər daşımırlar. . Beləliklə, zaman keçdikcə bunun azaldığını görürəm.
İkincisi, bağışlayın, ikincisi nə idi -- Çəkməli pişikdə. Oh, bəli, Çəkməli pişik. Düşünürəm ki, bəli, Çəkməli Pişik-in saxlanmasından həqiqətən çox razı qaldıq. Bu fantastik qaçış oldu.
Bizim fikrimizcə, bunun əsas səbəblərindən bəziləri, həqiqətən, hazırda bazarda ailə məzmununun olmamasıdır. Yanvar və fevral aylarında böyük bir fürsət olduğunu düşünürük. Ancaq bir ailəsinizsə və teatra getmək istəmisinizsə, bu, həqiqətən, gənc tamaşaçılar üçün şəhərdə yeganə tamaşadır. Beləliklə, biz hesab edirik ki, dəyərin bir hissəsi -- demək istəyirəm ki, bir nömrəli rəylər çox müsbətdir.
Beləliklə, bu da kömək edir. You know, it's a quality film. But then on top of that, the fact that there is a limited amount of alternatives and a limited amount of choice has really helped to drive some of the success of Puss in Boots.
David Karnovsky -- JPMorgan Chase and Company -- Analyst
OK.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, David.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question is coming from the line of Ben Swinburne with Morgan Stanley. Please proceed with your questions.
Ben Swinburne -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Hey, good morning, everyone. Sean, could you come back to the wide release outlook? I know, you know, it's not really your role to forecast that over time per se since it's the studios. But anyone who's been on media earnings calls this month has heard about the sort of return of theatrical as a priority. So, do you think -- I guess the question is, do you think the 100 to 105 for this year, is there upside to that? And maybe if not, because we're sort of -- you know, we're pretty far into '23 now, where do you think that goes over, you know, '24, '25? Like can we get back to 130? Could we exceed 130? I'd love to get your thoughts because you obviously have, you know, more conversations in depth with distribution at the studio side than we do.
And then I did have a follow-up from Melissa.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. Thanks for the question, Ben. Let me start with the second part of your question there. I definitely think, over time, there is the potential to get back to the 130-plus range of films we were seeing prior to the pandemic, both because of the indications we're hearing from our traditional studio partners, as well as what I was just speaking to a moment ago, the potential for streaming companies to get more significantly into the theatrical space.
There's also the potential for new entrants. You know, there's new studios coming into play. Beyond just the value that theatrical is providing to their streaming platforms and other distribution channels, we've said this on prior calls, the more dynamic flexible window I actually think helps because it creates a better model for many of those mid-tier films that were starting to disappear prior to the pandemic. We've seen many of those films work and generate some terrific results during the course of 2022.
And with the studios having the knowledge that if for whatever reason they go forward and it doesn't work, they can get into the home faster and still recoup any of their downside, that bodes well for them taking more swings and putting more films out. So, we look at all that as really positive in terms of where things go. The governor on all that and ramp-up back to that level is really just the production cycle, right? It takes two to three-plus years to make movies. That was disrupted by the pandemic.
So, all the studios are having to kind of get back up to those levels. And it just takes some time. So -- and it's not a perfect assembly line process. There's an art to it.
So, we'll just have to see how that goes. Specific to 2023, we do think there is the potential to have some upside to that. We know that -- you mentioned it yourself and in some of the public calls, studios are looking at some of the other films that they had originally been contemplating for streaming platforms and considering if those could be released theatrically instead. So, there's the potential for that to grow higher.
I think we'll have to see. A lot of times, too, in addition to films that get slated late in the game, there are those platform releases that you just don't know if they really connect like in Everything Everywhere All at Once. You know, there are several examples. Or A Man Called Otto.
Like they can grow to be wide releases in success. So, if there's more of those with quality, it could certainly lead to something in excess of 100 to 105.
Ben Swinburne -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Makes sense. And then, Melissa, just as we think about our 2023 forecast and the expectation of a larger box office, a broader slate, hopefully, a broader, you know, sort of audience coming back to the theaters, what would you highlight we think about either on expenses and sort of US margins, ATPs or per caps as we think '23 is, hopefully, you know, another step toward a normal year on the box office front, just to make sure we're thinking about some of the major swing factors in your mind, if anything.
Melissa Thomas -- Chief Financial Officer
Sure. Thanks for the question, Ben. So, I'd start off by saying, as it relates to 2023, we do anticipate margin expansion relative to 2022 as the box office further recovers and we gain more leverage over our fixed cost space. Big picture, on the revenue side, I think the key call out there would be we do believe we can modestly grow both our average ticket prices, as well as concession per cap, relative to full year 2022 levels, albeit those growth rates may be tempered a bit from what we saw in 2022 and will vary quarter to quarter based on our film mix.
On the expense side, you know, our key -- our expenses are comprised, as you know, of both fixed and variable components. As you think about the box scaling, our biggest variable expenses are going to be film rental and advertising salaries and wages, concessions supplies, and then, to some extent, facility lease expense. But that's particularly related to international. It's reasonable to assume that those expenses will scale up as attendance in box office continues to rebound, though that won't necessarily be at the same rate.
But overarchingly, we do expect to remain diligent in our cost control and will continue to pursue productivity initiatives with an eye toward profitability and, of course, free cash flow generation.
Ben Swinburne -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Great. Thank you, both.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Ben.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question is coming from the line of Robert Fishman with SVB MoffettNathanson. Please proceed with your questions.
Robert Fishman -- MoffettNathanson -- Analyst
Hi. Good morning. Two questions, please. First, Sean, I appreciate your comments around the return of the movie supply.
I'm wondering if you can share learnings about the frequency of moviegoers and how that's maybe changed compared to the pre-pandemic for maybe your Movie Club members or just the broader moviegoing audience? And are there certain movie genres where you think streaming or windowing has had a bigger impact on theater attendance like family or drama? And maybe is this an opportunity for growth given the pendulum shift on the streaming strategies that you're talking about from the Hollywood studios? Thanks.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Robert. Great questions. You know, we have been looking at frequency of moviegoing behavior, both in general and of our Movie Club members. I'd say the one challenge we have just in looking at that in a comparable way is, you know, with volume down in 2022, almost 40% to where we were prior to the pandemic, it's just -- it's hard to compare that directly because with limited -- more limited choice there, you know, naturally it will be more limited frequency.
So, I would say we're very encouraged by what we're seeing in terms of Movie Club going behavior. I mentioned on the call, we continue to see overall subscribership grow, which we see as a real positive in terms of interest and sustained demand. However, frequency is down just a small tinge, but we -- based on what we've seen, it's down less than volume is down. So, you know, if anything, based on the volume of opportunities people have to select from, their over -- I would say their overall frequency is up a touch, even if in the aggregate frequency, it's down a little bit.
But again, it comes back to fewer films being available to them. Specific to any impact on any type of particular genre, perhaps the one area we'd kind of call out that we're watching would just, if nothing else, be more animated content. We have seen perhaps a little bit of consumer confusion just based on some of the releasing strategies specific to animation that took place over the course of the pandemic. But even that is a little hard to fully say because there have been so few of those movies released in 2022 compared to pre-pandemic times.
But part of that could also just be a response to less opportunity to go see those movies and people not being as much in the habit as a result of it. On the flip side, we've seen some great examples of solid results. I mean, you had Sonic the Hedgehog 2, although that wasn't fully animated. The Bad Guys did really well.
Minions: The Rise of Gru had a record July opening. We just talked about Puss in Boots on the call. So, there's a series of those. And we've also seen how families on just overall nonanimated films, their behavior has been more consistent with pre-pandemic levels.
So, we'll have to see how 2023 plays out. I mean, we're very encouraged about the lineup of animated films over the course of the year. And we think that could really -- we'll have to see and gauge that over the course of the year. We think that could change the course of things based on a more sustained momentum of options.
Robert Fishman -- MoffettNathanson -- Analyst
That's great. Thanks, Sean. Melissa, any additional color you can provide to us about the capex levels of beyond '23? Like how should we think about normalized levels from here with the return of movie supply?
Melissa Thomas -- Chief Financial Officer
Sure. So, from a capex perspective, it's important to note that we do believe our capex years are behind us and that we continue to benefit from our history of proactively maintaining and investing in our theaters prior to the pandemic. As you mentioned, for 2023, we are targeting 150 million of capital expenditures. So, certainly, a step up from the 111 million in 2022.
As we think about long term, I mean, naturally, as the box office continues to recover in 2024 and beyond, it's reasonable to expect us to continue to step up our capital expenditures. But again, we don't expect to get back to those peak capex years.
Robert Fishman -- MoffettNathanson -- Analyst
All right. Thank you, both.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Robert.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question is coming from the line of Eric Handler with ROTH MKM. Please proceed with your questions.
Eric Handler -- MKM Partners -- Analyst
Good morning. Thanks for the question. Sean, given the success that you're having with premium amenities, I'm curious, as you think about your capex investments that are going on, why not add another XD screen to existing theaters or accelerate the D-BOX rollout? I'm just curious how you're thinking about that.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
It's a great observation, Eric. Actually, we have been doing exactly that. We have -- in all our newbuilds, we're putting in XDs. And in many cases, we're putting in two directly.
We've been going back. And that's been one of the areas of growth for XD over the course of 2022. And even to a certain degree during the pandemic, we went back, and we're looking at where we could add second XDs just based on the profile of our auditoriums. You know, part of the -- the only limiter there is, you know, obviously, there's an ROI assessment that we do, but also just the scale of the auditoriums.
We need to make sure that there's an auditorium that has the appropriate size and scale for an XD. But we've been doing that. And likewise, with D-BOX seats, we've found some great success in some of the different ways we're installing D-BOX, and we've been adding those considerably over the course of 2022. And we continue to -- we plan to continue to do so in 2023 just given the demand.
Eric Handler -- MKM Partners -- Analyst
Great. And then as a follow-up, so with Movie Club, correct me if I'm wrong, I mean, you started Movie Club in 2017 at 8.99 a month. Now, it's 9.99. Have you thought about prices maybe a lever with Movie Club just to keep up with inflationary pressures?
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Absolutely. It's something that we routinely look at. One of the things that we try to maintain is just the appropriate parity between our general admission levels and our Movie Club levels to make sure that the right variance is there. So, it's something that we're going to continue to watch.
I'd say, in general, the way we have approached pricing as we've been working through the pandemic and reigniting theatrical moviegoing is we've aimed to be a bit more moderated there as we get -- have been trying to attract people back to our theaters in a more significant way. One of the things we were -- we've been cautious about is not, you know, overdoing it with price so their experience when they come back to the theaters is one of feeling like they're not getting an appropriate value. Doesn't mean we haven't been taking up price appropriately in this environment, but something we use data to drive our decision-making, and we're very careful about how we do that. So, we do that with overall pricing, and we certainly do it with Movie Club as well.
So, something that we're going to continue to pay close attention to as we go forward.
Eric Handler -- MKM Partners -- Analyst
Thank you very much.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Eric.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question is coming from the line of Eric Wold with B. Riley Securities. Please proceed with your question.
Eric Wold -- B. Riley Financial -- Analyst
Thanks. Good morning. Two questions. I guess, first one, kind of a follow-up on an earlier question around kind of expenses and kind of outlook.
Kind of taking it a little further, if we do, in the coming years, get back to, you know, comparable number of releases in that 130-ish range, get back to a comparable level of attendance, how do we think about the push and pull or the kind of the offsets between the stronger guest monetization, assuming kind of per cap stay elevated, along with an expectation that expenses are probably going to stay elevated? Can we get back to that 24% global adjusted EBITDA margin that you saw pre-pandemic at some point in the coming years on that kind of comparable level of attendance?
Melissa Thomas -- Chief Financial Officer
Thanks, Eric. So, clearly, our goal over the longer term is to get back to pre-pandemic adjusted EBITDA margin levels. But our ability to do so is going to depend upon a number of variables. So, the primary driver, as you know, is going to be the extent to which attendance in box office recover to historical levels, which is going to be a function of volume and the quality of films that are released.
But the other key variables at play are whether tail -- our tailwinds from market share, average ticket prices, and per caps persist; how inflationary pressures evolve on the expense side; and to what extent dividend income returns. So, those are really the key factors to keep in mind there. But it's really too early. It's difficult to quantify at what box office levels we could potentially -- whether we could potentially return to pre-pandemic adjusted EBITDA margins.
I think there's too much influx at this stage, but clearly our goal.
Eric Wold -- B. Riley Financial -- Analyst
Got it. Appreciate that. And then the second question, on Latin America, maybe talk about the current state of kind of the build -- newbuild environment and kind of what you're seeing with the pipeline, firming up of discussions. I guess same kind of thought process there.
I mean, can we get back to that goal of 75 to 100 screens per year? Is that still the opportunity in your mind down that region in the coming years? Has that maybe changed one way or another based on kind of what you're seeing?
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
You know, it's interesting. We still -- when we look at the entire region, we still see plenty of opportunity for growth as many of the markets are still highly underpenetrated with regard to the number of theaters that exist compared to the overall volume of people who reside there. So, we do think there is some potential for incremental newbuild activity over time. I'm not sure we would get back to a level of, you know, 75 to 100 screens like we had been operating at, you know, about five-plus years ago.
In the near term, certainly, just because of the overall expansion of malls and and just the current -- I would just say the current, you know, market environment right now, which is still recovering. So, we do have some newbuilds that were committed prior to the pandemic that we are continuing to move forward on. We're going to continue to monitor the environment. As you may recall, all of our theaters in the marketplace are connected to malls because that tends to be where people aggregate for activities on the weekends and there's easier mass transit and they're safer.
So, some of that overall expansion will be affected just by how much mall development there is also in the coming years. So, I think we're just going to have to see. But I would say, in the short run, it's probably unlikely that we'll get back to those levels over the next, you know, three to four years.
Eric Wold -- B. Riley Financial -- Analyst
Helpful. Thank you, both.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Eric.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question is coming from the line of Chad Beynon with Macquarie. Please proceed with your questions.
Chad Beynon -- Macquarie Group -- Analyst
Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I wanted to go back to Movie Club.
You mentioned membership is over 1 million subscribers or people. And just given the ongoing evolution of loyalty, are there other ways to monetize this group, whether it's partnerships with other consumer brands, branded credit cards, or other things like that? Thanks.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Yeah, it's a great question, Chad. The short answer is yes. Those are things that we're looking at. I mean, it depends on what we do.
One of the ways we're doing that is certainly working with our studio partners, right? It's a great channel to promote films, particularly when people have credits that they've amassed that they haven't used, and we have a better familiarity with the types of movies that they like, being very targeted in terms of showcasing what's upcoming to them. Looking at third-party partnerships and things like that in terms of how we can do connections and things we've done, certain things with like Costco as an example, just new sales channels and ways to do that. We do a lot of things where companies may have different programs, employee-based rewards programs where they become good consumer acquisition opportunities, where you may, you know, give away a free month of Movie Club to try to get some kind of access and sign up. So, there's a range of different ways that we can look to the program for broader opportunity, whether it be accessing new customers or just finding shared mutual benefits with a third party in terms of that.
So, it's an area that our team is continuing to work on, and we think there's upside.
Chad Beynon -- Macquarie Group -- Analyst
That's great. Thanks, Sean. And then just given your outlook on the industry and your healthy balance sheet, obviously, it's a unique time with the position you're in and potentially some assets that are for sale or could be converted. Can you just kind of update us in terms of your appetite for looking outside your organic portfolio for assets that have been or could come up for sale?
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Absolutely. Look, we keep a close watch on the marketplace and the different opportunities that may be out there or may ultimately become accessible. I'd say our general philosophy on that is still consistent, or we tend to target high-quality assets that we have confidence can deliver solid, assured returns over time. So, we're kind of looking at everything through that lens.
We're not necessarily just looking to grow for growth sake. We tend to be pretty disciplined with regard to how we deploy our capital and seeking -- as we seek financially accretive investments. I'd say probably the only limiting factor to that is as we think we're in a position of advantage as we go forward and there may very well be some good opportunities, we're going to be mindful of not straining our balance sheet, you know, certainly as we're working to reinforce that coming out of the pandemic further. And the only other thing I would flag when it comes to any type of M&A is clearly where we are still as our industry recovery, there's a little bit of complexity when it comes to fully assessing margins and appropriate multiples and things of that sort.
So, trying to get reconciliation of expectations between parties just adds an additional layer of difficulty in trying to close deals. Not to say that we don't think there could be some potential that comes our way.
Chad Beynon -- Macquarie Group -- Analyst
Great. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question is coming from the line of Jim Goss with Barrington Research. Please proceed with your questions.
Jim Goss -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
All right. Thank you. You have a slide of 2023 notable titles with a pretty significant gap in late August, September, and October with the absence of such. I'm wondering if, given the discussion you had about alternative content and some of the options you might have, if this sort of advanced warning of a challenge creates opportunities to plan and if there might be some things you might share with us in that regard.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Certainly, Jim. You're right. You know, when we look at the overall profile of the year, at least on paper now, it has some similarities to 2022, more volume, clearly. But there is a little bit of a lull when you get into that like late summer, early fall period.
Not to say that's too indifferent from pre-pandemic times. I mean, that's always a softer period of the year with kids going back to school in terms of the way studios program their films. But at the same time, what we've seen is, you know, movies do really well in that period. So, there's opportunity there.
What we suspect might happen is, you know, recognizing it's a -- and studios will see that. I mean, we recognize it. And there certainly is the potential for some shifting around of dates. So, if a studio wants to have a clear run of a title, they can put it in there, and there will just be less competition.
So, we may wind up seeing some of the films right now that are in the summer-spring spread out a little bit more and take advantage of that period. And we could also still see, like you pointed out, some new films. If you're thinking about where to date your title and you haven't done that yet, be it alternative content or just a traditional film, I mean, there's a great opportunity within that window to do so right now. So, I think -- my guess is we'll start to see some of that fill out a bit more as the year progresses.
Jim Goss -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
OK. Thank you. And you had a comment -- an interesting comment about the dynamic window, if you will, for helping mid-tier films. And I'm wondering how much variability you're seeing right now in the sort of a normalized 30 to 45-day window and also how that might impact, say, this Amazon release or some of the other ones you might get from streamers where maybe you can get them to extend the window a little bit so you have more of an impact to the extent you wanted over time.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. Well, I mean, obviously, there's been a lot of experimentation with the window in different types of releases throughout the course of the pandemic. And for the most part, it seems like things are jelling around a 45-day window now, certainly for the more commercial films. I think part of that reason is I think what everybody has been finding is you need a certain amount of runtime to generate the full benefits that a theatrical release can provide a film.
And that's right around that kind of sweet spot as a -- of a starting place because it gives you enough time to get the value out of theatrical without losing that momentum as it goes into the home. Now, that can shift a bit, depending on how well a film is performing. I mean, you look at a film like Top Gun: Maverick as an example, as well as many of these Marvel films, Avatar, right? Like those films have done exceptionally well, and they've run quite a bit longer than 45 days before going into the home. Even saw that with Elvis as an example, where it ran quite a bit longer.
So, in success, that's where some of that dynamic behavior comes into play. It can run longer. And if something doesn't work, there's that opportunity to get into the home faster and minimize downside. So, I think -- you know, it is my take, it seems like that's kind of that sweet spot is where everybody starts off, and then it could skew a little bit from that.
And I think that's the same for the streaming companies. I mean, with Air, Amazon, I don't think it's been -- I don't think it's public, and I'm not sure it's even been fully decided yet on the window. We know, directionally, that's kind of the general place that they're starting. And I think some of that, too, will be dependent on, you know, how well the film continues to hold, how well it opens.
There's obviously other dating decisions that get made in terms of some of the downstream targets for release. But that seems to be the direction that they're heading with that film. And it's certainly what they're indicating with regard to what they're telling us, as well as what we're hearing from, you know, some of the other streamers, you know, like in Apple.
Jim Goss -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
OK, thanks. One last one, the concession per cap getting to a record level, you noted was driven by higher incident rates -- incidence rates primarily. I'm wondering if you might comment on the implication for the mix of offerings now and in the future and whether the supply chain constraints might have had any impact on that?
Melissa Thomas -- Chief Financial Officer
Just in terms of our per cap performance in the quarter, Jim?
Jim Goss -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
Yes, and how that's trending.
Melissa Thomas -- Chief Financial Officer
Sure. So, as we think about per caps and what we saw in the quarter, we certainly saw a benefit both from higher incidence rates, as well as strategic pricing. On the incidence rate side, a few things that I would call out there. The first, favorable film mix in the quarter certainly benefited us, coupled with the success of the initiatives that we had in place tied to the fourth quarter film slate.
That was the merchandizing collectibles vessels I mentioned. In addition, supply chain constraints easing did improve our ability to meet customer demand with fewer out-of-stock. So, we certainly did see a tailwind there. And then third, I would call out some activations of expanded hot foods and alcohol in certain locations leading into the quarter.
So, those are some of the key factors. As you think about the per caps going forward for concession, as I mentioned earlier, we do believe that we can continue to grow concession per cap in 2023 relative to full year 2022 levels. But that growth rate may be more tempered than what we saw in 2022. But tailwind, certainly, on supply chain starting to ease there.
Jim Goss -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
OK. Thank you very much.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Jim.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question is coming from the line of Mike Hickey with The Benchmark Company. Please proceed with your question.
Mike Hickey -- The Benchmark Company -- Analyst
Hey, Sean, Melissa, and Chanda. Good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. Just two questions from me.
On the first question, on the first quarter, looks like the domestic market here, if you look at sort of just the top 10 grossing films, which is obviously the majority of the market, looks like quarter to date, domestic is tracking up 42% compared to '22. Obviously, a lot of puts and takes on films and virus impact. But just curious, the momentum here you're seeing in your business, is it within your expectations or if it's exceeding your expectations? Obviously, we thought Creed and John Wick here to close out the quarter. And also, wondering if you're seeing similar strength in concessions despite the pinch on consumer.
And I have a follow-up.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. Hi, Mike. Yeah, you know, it's interesting, 1Q, you know, as I mentioned, it's kind of the profile for the year earlier. It's another similar scenario to 2022 in that the year gets off to -- or getting off to a little bit slower start from a total volume perspective.
Fortunately, though, as you called out, the actual box office results have been quite favorable with significant growth year over year despite the limited volume. Your question on expectations, it has certainly exceeded our expectations thus far in terms of the results with, you know, things, the strong play-through of Avatar, the continued run of Puss in Boots. M3GAN performed exceptionally well. You know, [Inaudible] doing great.
Ant-Man opened to a great start. And as you pointed out, now, we're really starting to get into more of a steady stream of releases week to week. So, we're very encouraged about what we see looking ahead. So, so far, the year's off to a -- we think off to a better-than-expected start, for sure.
And as far as food and beverage sales go, similarly, you know, it's interesting as we -- we haven't seen any impact from inflation over the course of '22 on sales. It hasn't deterred people upgrading to premium amenities, and it certainly hasn't deterred people's consumption of food and beverage, which continues to be going in a really strong direction. That's continued on through the first quarter to date. So, you know, it's something that we've been -- you know, we've often wondered and debated internally like will we see a bit more of a normalization at some stage just in terms of consumer -- overwhelming consumer consumption in the marketplace post-pandemic.
But to date, it seems like that has yet to slow within our space.
Mike Hickey -- The Benchmark Company -- Analyst
Nice. Thanks, Sean. The second question here, kind of wide-ranging, but you gave sort of your qualitative perspective on the box on '23. I'm curious if you think -- any way to quantify that.
I know that can be a challenge, obviously. And I guess within that question, when you look at '22 and sort of the relationship of wide releases to where they're at in '19 as a percentage, that sort of came in pretty close to where the box office did versus '19. And so, when you look at '23, thinking about sort of 80% wide releases versus '19, that was sort of an implied box office of sort of plus 9 billion, which I think is above most people's expectations for the year. So, just curious, one, if you kind of quantify your expectations for '23, if you think there's any substance to sort of the correlation of wide releases versus '19 to the ultimate box office? And then a last one, just curious of your view on dynamic, particularly pricing, Sean.
Is that can be an economic positive to your ATP in '23? Thank you.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. You know, as far as '23 goes, you know, obviously, we don't give guidance on box office, but we are certainly encouraged. Our estimates suggest '23 would be higher than '22. Clearly, as you pointed out, just the relationship between volume in box office compared to 2019.
We saw that in '22. I think most consensus has box office around 8.5 billion for the year. And at least when we look at volume getting somewhere between 75% to 80% of 2019 levels or pre-pandemic levels, it would seem to support that. Clearly, with the first quarter getting off to a better-than-expected start like we talked about, we're hopeful there could be some upside on that over the course of the year.
But clearly, a big part of that will depend on just the overall quality of the titles that get released. On paper, there's a lot of promise in terms of the movies that are coming up. And hopefully, it'll flow through in terms of just the overall quality at the end of the day. Pricing-wise, you know, dynamic pricing, it's an interesting thought.
I'd say we have gone -- we clearly have a wide range of varied price points across our days, across our weeks. You know, we try to make sure we've got lots of accessible pricing options to make ourselves available to a wide range of consumers. Flexing things, you know, we got a little bit of that going on here and there. It's something we're going to be careful about.
Just, you know, all the moves we make, we use a lot of data to try to drive our decision-making on that and look at the responses of consumers. So, something that we're going to continue to explore. We'll do it gingerly because we are very sensitive to adverse reaction from consumers, especially as we're trying to continue to encourage them to come back to the movies with greater frequency.
Mike Hickey -- The Benchmark Company -- Analyst
Thank you.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
But we do think there's opportunity over time in that space, for sure.
Mike Hickey -- The Benchmark Company -- Analyst
Nice. Thanks, Sean.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Mike.
Operator
Thank you. Our next question is coming from the line of Omar Mejias with Wells Fargo. Please proceed with your question.
Omar Mejias -- Wells Fargo Securities -- Analyst
Good morning, guys. Thank you for taking my questions. Maybe, Sean, first, with regard to Latin America. You know, recovery continues to lag the US
there. Can you give us an update on Latin American trends and if you expect sort of that gap to narrow in '23 as things stabilize down there. Then I have a follow-up. Thanks.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Sure. Thanks for the question, Omar. Actually, you know, when we look at the data for Latam, there was a while. You know, there's a decent period of time where Latin America was lagging the US
in box office performance and reopenings of theaters. At this point, what we're seeing is things have pretty well caught up in terms of, you know, vaccination rates in many countries, they exceed the US Moviegoing, in general, has been really strong. Some of that you got to consider mix.
You know, certain titles, as they always historically have, will fare a little bit better or worse there. Action, horror, family tends to overperform in the region relative to the US, where things like sci-fi tend to skew a bit below. So, that can influence things. In the fourth quarter -- the fourth quarter historically in Latam has been the -- it's the winter there.
So, that historically has been the slowest period of the year. In the fourth quarter of this year, in particular, there was also the World Cup, which is always a big focal point for folks there. So, you know, weekend events in the World Cup can affect moviegoing. And a lot of times, studios will also manage their release times around that.
So, that dampened things a bit in the quarter. But when we look at the full year, on the whole, we look at the results of Latam being quite comparable to North American moviegoing. We've got plenty of phenomenal examples in the region of great success. Avatar -- for instance, Avatar: The Way of Water is the sixth biggest film ever in the region, and it's significantly higher than the first installment.
So, we look at Latam as being, you know, in a relatively comparable place to the US now.
Omar Mejias -- Wells Fargo Securities -- Analyst
That was helpful color. Thank you. And, Melissa, maybe with all the work you guys have been doing around improving operational efficiencies and lowering your cost structure and also the way you guys have been doing with dynamic pricing and per caps, maybe can you unpack how are those actions sort of benefiting your margin structure and maybe update us on any new initiatives you guys are working on for '23? Thanks.
Melissa Thomas -- Chief Financial Officer
Sure. The key items I would call out there, Omar, one of the biggest would be on our theater labor. So, the team has done a lot of work on optimizing our operating hours, as well as driving efficiencies within our labor hours. So, that has been benefiting our cost structure.
Now, that said, that's been overshadowed by the wage rate pressure that we've experienced. Now, we do expect -- while we expect some ongoing wage rate pressure, we don't expect it to be at the same extent that we've seen over the past couple of years. But I would say theater labor is one of the biggest areas where we've seen some benefits on the cost side. And it's an area where as we go forward, similar to -- as we do across all our expense line items, that we're continuing to look and pursue additional productivity initiatives on to try to offset some of the pressures that we've been facing.
Again, strategic pricing is another area that helps offset some of those inflationary pressures. Productivity improvements are certainly an area that we're focused on. I think the other item that I would mention is just our ongoing discipline on G&A. Our -- again, that one has been overshadowed a bit by some of the dynamics with wage rate inflation, as well as our shift to cloud-based software.
But we've been controlling pretty tightly our discretionary spending and our staffing levels being below 2019. So, we continue to look to run the company in a very disciplined way from a cost structure standpoint.
Omar Mejias -- Wells Fargo Securities -- Analyst
Thank you.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Omar.
Operator
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I would now like to hand the call back over to Sean Gamble for any closing remarks.
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
All right. Well, thank you all for joining the call this morning. We appreciate you taking the time to meet with us. And we look forward to speaking with you again following our first quarter 2023 results.
Have a great day.
Operator
[Operator signoff]
Duration: 0 minutes
Call participants:
Chanda Brashears -- Senior Vice President, Investor Relations
Sean Gamble -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Melissa Thomas -- Chief Financial Officer
David Karnovsky -- JPMorgan Chase and Company -- Analyst
Ben Swinburne -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Robert Fishman -- MoffettNathanson -- Analyst
Eric Handler -- MKM Partners -- Analyst
Eric Wold -- B. Riley Financial -- Analyst
Chad Beynon -- Macquarie Group -- Analyst
Jim Goss -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
Mike Hickey -- The Benchmark Company -- Analyst
Omar Mejias -- Wells Fargo Securities -- Analyst
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