Attendance at cinemas in France was “a global exception” in 2024: it increased, counting more than 181 million admissions, almost half of which were for French films, the National Cinema Center announced on Tuesday and of the animated image (CNC) in a press release.
Three French films have accumulated nearly 25 million admissions: “Un p'tit truc en plus” by actor and director Artus (top of the 2024 box office with 10.3 million admissions), “The Count of Monte Cristo ” by Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte (second, 9.1 million) and “L'Amour ouf” by Gilles Lellouche (fifth, 4.7 million).
This is the “best level” since 2008, the year of “Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis” and “Asterix at the Olympic Games” (45.8%).
France is thus a global “double exception”, welcomed Olivier Henrard, interim president of the CNC, on France Inter radio.
First, it is “the only country in which more people than last year have pushed the door of a cinema”, or around a million more, he stressed.
Then, this attendance “is driven by national cinema”, he continued, referring to the 44.4% market share of French films.
“Apart from the United States (37.6%), 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, in addition to the three French successes, all the other films in the top 10 are American: the three cartoons “Vice-Versa 2” (8.3 million admissions), “Vaiana 2” (6.4 million) and “Despicable Me 4” (4.3 million), as well as the films “Dune: Part II” (4.1 million), “Deadpool & Wolverine” (3.7 million), “Gladiator II” (2.9 million) and “Planet of the Apes: The New Kingdom” (2.5 million).
Certainly, overall, theater attendance in France remains “12.8% below the average” before Covid. “But the last months of 2024, we almost returned to the figures before the pandemic“, noted Mr. Henrard, hoping that the trend will be confirmed in 2025.
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