With 105 million admissions in the first 9 months of 2022, the year should not end as the CNC had anticipated in the middle of the year, i.e. 175 million admissions. This situation worries the whole industry, which is looking for ways to revitalize cinema attendance. The Minister of Culture mentioned a media campaign to rekindle the desire to go and see films; professionals have come together to call for general statements of cinema.
We can look for explanations on the periphery of the room: the price of the ticket, the overpowering of the platforms, the changes in spectator habits after two years of pandemic, the fed up of superheroes, the lack of power of American blockbusters.
Indeed, for several years, American cinema has accounted for around 50% of cinema admissions according to figures made public by the CNC. This year, at the end of September, the weight of American films in cinema admissions was 37.9%, i.e. less than French cinema (39.6%), the rest of admissions being made by films of other nationalities ( 22.5%). However, 9 places in the top 10 France are occupied by American films. In fact, what is lacking are millionaire films, whatever their nationality: at the end of September, the box office had only 20 films with more than one million admissions. To reach the level of previous years, during the last quarter, between 20 and 30 films would have to be millionaires. In 2017, there were 52, 42 in 2018 and 51 in 2019. When we know that 70% of films have less than 100,000 admissions, the challenge is daunting.
While the profession is concerned about the health of our cinemas, we can therefore see that the American situation is not necessarily better: over the first 9 months of 2022, French cinemas are showing growth of 123% when the American box office only increased by 24%, to 5.6 billion dollars in revenue. Proof that studio blockbusters are also suffering in their domestic market. At the current rate, it is difficult to think that in three months the American box office can go back to 11 billion dollars, the level before the pandemic. All hopes rest on “Avatar: the way of the water” to save a year 2022 that everyone wants to forget, without knowing what 2023 will be.
