LOCALFILMSANDSTRONGRECOVERYBYUSTITLESPIVOTALFOREUROPEANCINEMASIN2024

Brussels,12February2025.TheInternationalUnionofCinemas(UNIC),whichrepresentsEuropeancinemaoperatorsandtradeassociations,hastodayreleased2024boxofficeandadmissionsdataforits39territories.ThefiguresarethefirstassessmentofEuropeancinemas’performancelastyear,basedonpreliminaryestimates.DetailedfinaldatawillbereleasedinJune.

WhiletheHollywoodstrikeshadalingeringimpactinthefirsthalfoftheyear,UNICestimatesthattheoverallpictureforEuropeancinemasremainedalmostonaparwith2023.

Despitethetoughcontext,admissionsdecreasedby1.4%,whileboxofficefellonly0.3%acrossUNICterritories.Totaladmissionsreachedover975.5million,withboxofficeexceeding€7.2billion.

WhilethestrikeshitUStitlesespecially,Europeanoperatorswereconfidentaudienceswouldreturnoncetheslatestrengthened.Indeed,2024admissionssurpassedthepreviousyearinFrance,UK,Ireland,Bulgaria,Greece,Albania,Latvia,Lithuania,Poland,Slovakia,TurkeyandUkraine.

Nationaltitles’impact

Localproductionsplayedapivotalrolein2024’soverallsuccess.

Bulgariasawboxofficerevenueincreaseby10.8%,withadmissionsup4.1%,thankstoahighernumberofreleasesandnewcinemaopenings.ThestandoutsuccesswasGundi:LegendofLove,aboutthecountry’slegendaryfootballerGeorgiAsparuhov.Thefilmcontributedtoarecord-breaking24.4%marketsharefornationaltitles–threetimeshigherthanin2023.

Lithuaniaalsoexperiencedsignificantgrowth,withboxofficerevenuerising9.8%andadmissionsincreasing5.8%.Twolocalproductions,IrklaisperAtlant?,adocumentaryaboutAurimasValujaviciusandhissolocrossingoftheAtlanticinarowingboat,andcomedyMilijonieriauspalikimas,rankedthirdandfourthrespectivelyinthecountry’stoptenfor2024,whilemarketsharefornationaltitlesjumpedto20.2%from14.6%thepreviousyear.

InPoland,alongwithariseinboxofficerevenue,nationalmarketshareincreasedbyover4percentagepointsto23%,withthreehome-grownfilmsinthetoptitles.

Finlandexperiencedanunprecedented31.3%nationalmarketshare,withover2millionadmissionsforlocalfilms,thehighestlevelsince2017.MyrskyluodonMaijawasitstopfilmoftheyear,with470,000admissions,surpassingDisney’sInsideOut2.

InSpainnationalmarketshareroseto19%–twopointshigherthanin2023–withdomestichitssuchasPadrenohaymásqueuno4,thrillerLaInfiltradaandchildren’sfilmBuffaloKids.

Francerecorded181.3millionadmissions,upnearly1millioncomparedwith2023.ThemarketwaspropelledbydomestichitsUnP'titTrucEnPlus,LeComtedeMonte-CristoandL’AmourOuf,whichcollectivelysoldover25milliontickets,breakingadecade-longrecord.Tennationalfilmssurpassed1millionadmissions,includingthebiopicMonsieurAznavour(2million),theaward-winningauteurmusicalEmiliaPérez(1.07million)andfamilyfilmLeDernierJaguar(1million).ThemarketshareforFrench-madefilmsreached44.4%,oneofitshighestlevelsever.

TheUKmaintainedstrongboxofficerevenue,surpassing￡978million,whileadmissionsgrew2.3%.NovemberandDecembersawparticularlystronggrowth,withadmissionsup77%and36%respectivelyyear-on-year,thankstohitsincludingWicked,Mufasa:TheLionKing,Moana2andSonictheHedgehog3,aswellasBritishco-productionsPaddingtoninPeruandConclave.

Italyreported€494millioninboxofficerevenue,selling69.7milliontickets.Summer2024wasthebestinItaly’sboxofficehistory,exceedingthepreviousyear’srecord,whileChristmasadmissionssurged28%,withItalianfilmsaccountingfor45%ofticketssoldinthefestiveperiod.

Internationalhits

AkeyhighlightacrosstheEMEAregionwasDisney’sInsideOut2,thehighest-grossinganimatedfilmofalltimeandfastesttosurpassthe$1-billionbenchmarkglobally–injust19days.InItalythefilmbecamethethirdhighest-grossingnon-localreleaseofthedecadewithin11days,contributingtwo-thirdsofJune’sboxoffice.

Universal’sDespicableMe4andDisney’sDeadpool&Wolverinealsoboostedsummeradmissionsacrossthecontinent,beforethesecondhalfof2024pickedupwithamorerobustreleasecalendarthatsawmultiplehitsincludingParamount’sGladiatorII,WarnerBros’Wicked,Disney’sMoana2andSony’sVenom:TheLastDance.ThesetitleshelpedbringtheEMEAregionbacktopre-pandemicboxofficelevelsinthefourthquarter.

CinemaDays

NationalCinemaDaysonceagainachievedsignificantsuccessacrossEurope,bringinginhugeaudiences.France'sLaFêteduCinémaattracted4.65millioncinema-goersinits39thyear,50%above2023,thebest-attendededitionsinceitscreationin1985.

Italy'sCinemainFestaandSpain'sFiestadelCineprovedverypopular,withnearly1.7millionandover2.2millionadmissionsrespectively,spreadacrosstwoeventsin2024.Germany’sKinofestattracted1.2millionvisitorsintwodaysinover700cinemas,makingitthebest-attendedcinemaweekendtodate.

Commentingonthefigures,UNICCEOLauraHoulgattesaid:

“BothlocalhitsandUSblockbustersplayedacrucialrolein2024,whilecinemaoperatorsacrossEuropecontinuedtoinvestinthebestexperiencefortheiraudiences.Thesetwoingredients-agreatfilmandagreatexperience-arethekeytocinematicsuccess.Ourmessageisclear:continuetobringquality,diverseandwell-marketedfilmstotheBigScreenandtheaudienceswillfollow.”

GowerStreetAnalytics

estimatesthatthe2025globalboxofficewillgrowby$2.5billionto$33billion,withEMEAestimatedtoreach$9.1billion.

Attachment

Tablewithtentativemarketperformanceindicatorsfor2024(whereavailable)-seep.3.

Notesforeditors

UNICistheEuropeantradegroupingrepresentingcinemaexhibitorsandtheirnationaltradeassociationsacross39Europeanterritories.Moreinformationavailableon

.

Sources

UNICmembers.ComplementaryinformationfromComscore,GowerStreet,EuropeanAudiovisualObservatory,BE(FilmMatters),BG(Националенфилмовцентър),CY(DJKGroup),CZ(UnieFilmovychDistributoru),DE(FFA–Filmf?rderungsanstalt),FR(CentreNationalduCinémaetdel’ImageAnimée),GR(HellenicFilm&AudiovisualCenter),HU(NemzetiFilmirodaF?osztály),IE(Pearl&Dean),LU(FilmMatters),PT(InstitutodoCinemaedoAudiovisual),RO(Cinemagia),RU(NevafilmResearch).

Contact

InternationalUnionofCinemas(UNIC)

communications@

BOXOFFICE

ADMISSIONS

NATIONALFILMS'

(MILLION,INLOCALCURRENCY)

(MILLION)

SHARE

COUNTRY(CURRENCY)

2024

2023

2023-2024

2024

2023

2023-2024

CHANGE

CHANGE

Albania(ALL)

295.0

288.3

2.3%

0.5

0.4

9.0%

32.3%

Austria(EUR)

112.3

125.4

-10.5%

10.5

11.6

-9.7%

5.0%

Belgium(EUR)

153.1

167.2

-8.4%

15.0

16.7

-10.7%

10.4%

BosniaandHerzegovina(BAM)

8.4

8.8

-3.6%

1.1

1.3

-11.6%

2.7%

Bulgaria(BGN)

58.9

53.2

10.8%

4.6

4.5

4.1%

24.4%

Croatia(EUR)

19.9

20.6

-3.4%

3.4

3.8

-9.0%

3.1%

Cyprus(EUR)

4.7

5.5

-15.2%

0.5

0.6

-14.8%

6.0%

CzechRepublic(CZK)

2,255.1

2,275.2

-0.9%

13.0

13.3

-2.2%

28.0%

Denmark(DKK)

948.2

989.6

-4.2%

9.8

10.0

-2.2%

24.0%

Estonia(EUR)

18.4

19.0

-3.4%

2.5

2.6

-3.7%

12.5%

Finland(EUR)

89.6

93.6

-4.3%

6.8

7.2

-5.5%

31.3%

France(EUR)

n/a

1,333.9

n/a

181.3

180.4

0.5%

44.4%

Georgia(GEL)

19.7

19.0

3.5%

1.5

1.5

-5.8%

0.3%

Germany(EUR)

868.4

929.1

-6.5%

90.1

95.7

-5.8%

20.6%

Greece(EUR)

54.5

52.1

4.5%

7.6

7.4

2.9%

10.8%

Hungary(HUF)

24,395.3

22,518.8

8.3%

10.5

11.1

-5.9%

13.0%

Ireland(EUR)

103.0

101.8

1.2%

11.6

11.5

1.0%

3.4%

Israel(ILS)

424.0

402.3

5.4%

13.2

12.2

8.1%

9.7%

Italy(EUR)

494.0

495.8

-0.4%

69.7

70.7

-1.3%

24.6%

Latvia(EUR)

13.3

13.5

-1.3%

2.1

2.0

2.2%

14.0%

Lithuania(EUR)

23.5

21.4

9.8%

3.6

3.4

5.8%

20.2%

Luxembourg(EUR)

9.7

10.9

-10.3%

0.8

1.0

-18.6%

n/a

Montenegro&Serbia(RSD)

2,338.2

2,271.1

3.0%

4.1

4.2

-3.5%

25.9%

Netherlands(EUR)

311.7

338.5

-7.9%

29.3

31.7

-7.3%

16.0%

NorthMacedonia(MKD)

84.7

90.3

-6.2%

0.3

0.3

-3.2%

1.3%

Norway(NOK)

1,109.7

1,226.7

-9.5%

8.2

9.4

-12.7%

22.4%

Poland(PLN)

1,121.5

1,039.7

7.9%

50.8

50.4

0.7%

23.0%

Portugal(EUR)

73.2

72.9

0.4%

11.8

12.3

-3.8%

4.2%

Romania(RON)

302.0

308.8

-2.2%

12.1

13.0

-7.0%

n/a

Russia(RUB)

46,399.6

39,002.9

19.0%

127.4

126.1

1.0%

n/a

Slovakia(EUR)

38.5

34.6

11.3%

5.4

5.0

7.9%

23.7%

Slovenia(EUR)

10.9

11.4

-4.9%

1.5

1.63

-7.0%

8.4%

Spain(EUR)

489.0

504.5

-3.1%

73.0

77.8

-6.2%

19.0%

Sweden(SEK)

1,422.0

1,548.2

-8.2%

10.3

11.2

-7.9%

22.9%

Switzerland(CHF)

170.3

176.6

-3.5%

10.6

10.9

-2.5%

8.6%

Turkey(TRY)

4,994.0

2,812.1

77.6%

33.2

31.4

5.8%

50.0%

UK