Around 60 million moviegoers saw a French film in 2010, a higher figure than estimated in January 2011 (57 million).
Key figures
59.6 million admissions
€337 million in box office revenues
415 films exhibited
1,401 individual releases
14 films topped 1 million admissions
59.6 million admissions registered
2010 registered an overall decline of 11.6%, although results for French-language films rose by 23%. For the first time in ten years, French-language films accounted for more than one half of all admissions (58.5%). The 35 million admissions registered by these titles (compared to 28 million in 2009) compensate for the general downtrend in attendance observed for the second consecutive year. Box office receipts for French films abroad in 2010 reached €337 million, dropping by 6% over the previous year, although this loss was curbed by the success of French films in territories with high ticket prices (such as Japan and Europe).
415 French films hit international screens in 2010, against 417 in 2009, indicating a certain stability. With an average of four territories per film, the number of films released in foreign markets is the second highest in the past decade.
14 films attracted 1 million spectators, an increase over 2009
Fourteen titles topped the million admissions mark in 2010, more than in 2009 when nine titles achieved this feat. Nine of these titles were French-language productions (including The Concert, Little Nicholas, Heartbreaker, and A Prophet). If we consider the total admissions for the Top 20 French majority productions in 2009, we see that eleven films attracted more spectators abroad than in France, in some cases with significantly higher admissions (such as Babies, Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, and Don’t Look Back).
The top-performing trio in 2010 was From Paris with Love by Pierre Morel, The Ghost Writer by Roman Polanski, and Oceans by Jacques Cluzaud and Jacques Perrin.
Europe’s market share is on the rise, with North America ranking second, and Latin America and Asia remaining stable
Accounting for 37% of admissions, Western Europe leads the market for the distribution of French films due to a strengthening of key markets in Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In Eastern Europe, Russia showed a 40% hike in results.
After the smash hit Taken took the USA by storm in 2009, admissions to French films stabilized, with attendance to French-language rising by an impressive 97%.
Admissions fell back slightly in Mexico, although Brazil registered a rise. In Asia, China posted a drop in attendance to French films despite the success of The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, while the figures rose in Japan.
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