Attendance at cinemas in France is “a global exception” in 2024 with an increase of more than 181 million admissions, almost half of which are for French films, the CNC announced Wednesday January 1, 2025 in its annual report .
Three French films have accumulated nearly 25 million admissions: A little something extra by Artus (top of the 2024 box office with 10.3 million admissions), Le Comte de Monte Cristo of Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte (second, 9.1 million) and Love phew by Gilles Lellouche (fifth, 4.7 million). The progression is “almost a million (entries) compared to 2023“, an increase of 0.5%, according to a press release from the National Center for Cinema and Animated Images (CNC).
“Such a figure had not been reached since 2011, the yearUntouchables' (by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano) and “Nothing to declare” (by Dany Boo)”, commented the CNC. “France confirms its unique position in the global cinema landscape. We owe this success to the network of theaters and the variety of films presented like those supported by the CNC. Well done !” wrote the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati, on the X network.
Beyond the three successes of the past year, the market share of French films amounts to a total of 44.4% in 2024, according to figures from the CNC. This is the “best level“since 2008, the year of Welcome to the Ch'tis et Asterix at the Olympic Games (45.8% market share), on par with 2014 (year of What have we done to the Good Lord? and its 12 million entries).
France is thus a global “double exception”, welcomed Olivier Henrard, interim president of the CNC, on France Inter. First, it's “the only country in which more people than last year pushed open the door of a cinema“, around a million more, he stressed. Then, this attendance “is driven by national cinema“, he continued, referring to the 44.4% market share of tricolor films. “Outside of the United States, no country in the world comes close to this figure.“, he emphasized. “Among our large European neighbors, we navigate between 15 and 25%.”
In 2024 in France, apart from the three tricolor boxes, all the other films appearing in the top 10 are American, according to the CNC: the three cartoons Vice-Versa 2 (8.3 million entries), Vaiana 2 (6.4 million) and Despicable Me 4 (4.3 million), as well as films Dune: part two (4,1 millions), Deadpool & Wolverine (3,7 millions), Gladiator II (2.9 million) and Planet of the Apes: The New Kingdom (2,5 millions).
Certainly, overall, cinema attendance in France remains at “12.8% below average” before Covid. “But, in the last months of 2024, we almost returned to pre-pandemic figures.“, noted Mr. Henrard, hoping that the trend will be confirmed in 2025.
The National Federation of French Cinemas (FNCF) welcomed this “good result” annual. “Theater attendance in our country, by far the highest in Europe, demonstrates the success of the entire sector: authors, directors, producers, publishers, distributors, cinema operators, who rely on an essential public policy to the ecosystem” she noted in a separate statement.
According to the FNCF, “2025 should be an even more favorable year“, notably “thanks to a denser offer of films”.
