It’s almost a return to normal for dark rooms in France. They have recovered three quarters of their pre-Covid-19 attendance, with 152 million admissions in 2022, according to figures from the National Center for Cinema and Animated Image (CNC) unveiled on Monday January 2.
The year that has just passed has not seen any cinema closures for health reasons, unlike 2020 and 2021. But 2022 remains “a year of transition, still marked by the pandemic”estimates the CNC, recalling that the health restrictions, like the vaccination pass and the ban on the sale of confectionery, were not lifted until mid-March.
The result represents a strong rebound compared to the 95.5 million admissions in 2021 (+59.2%), but remains “down by −26.9% compared to the pre-Covid period and the historically high average for the 2017 to 2019 financial years” (207.9 million). The CNC also pointed out that the offer of buoyant films in 2022 was not yet equivalent to that of the pre-Covid years.
“This is a very encouraging result in a still atypical context. France is recording one of the best recoveries in the world, with a more limited decline compared to, for example, the United States, South Korea, Germany, Spain or Italy.said in a press release Dominique Boutonnat, president of the CNC, who said he was confident for 2023.
American blockbusters ahead
In 2022, the top 5 films remain the prerogative of American blockbusters (Avatar: The Way of the Water, Top Gun: Maverickthem minions…), but the market share of French films “has maintained the high levels it has reached since 2020”in particular due to the pandemic and the “relative scarcity of the offer of American films”, notes the CNC. This share amounted to 40.9%, compared to an average of 37.2% for the period from 2017 to 2019. As for the share of American films, it stood at 40.5%. Avatar: The Way of the Waterby James Cameron, was the biggest hit of the year in France, with 7.6 million admissions since its release on December 14, according to the CNC.
In 2022, “the entire public has returned to theaters, but by being more selective”, explained Friday to Agence France Presse Eric Marti, specialist at Comscore, an audience analysis company. American films have been a ” motor “ when, on the French side, only the films “with a certain originality” have resisted, to the detriment of big comedies for example.