French cinema’s 2024 performance makes it unique in world
France was the only country in which cinema attendance increased
French cinema was boosted by national films in 2024, figures show
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France is the only country in the world in which cinema attendance increased in 2024, with 181 million seats sold, new figures show.
It comes after France had also seen strong cinema-going figures in 2023.
"France will be the only country in the world this year where more people have been to the cinema, about a million more than last year,” said interim president of the CNC (Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée), Olivier Henrard, on December 31.
“All the other European countries plus the United States and South Korea will be well below 2023, bearing in mind that in 2023 France had already bounced back much more than all these countries.”
National cinema up
The figures were further boosted by national cinema, rather than international releases.
French films made up 44.4% of tickets sold, figures show.
“Apart from the United States, no other country in the world comes close to this figure,” said Mr Henrard, adding that he believes that “French cinema knows how to do everything, in every genre, on every budget”.
French cinema also benefited from the absence of American films which were hit hard by the writers’ strike in Hollywood at the start of the year.
Read also: French people love cinema - and their tickets fund new films
Of the top five films in France in 2024, three were French. They were:
Un p'tit truc en plus by Artus (10.8 million tickets sold)
Le Comte de Monte-Cristo by Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte (9.3 million)
L'Amour Ouf by Gilles Lellouche (4.7 million).
Other French-made films also made a splash, said Mr Henrard, including Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard, and Vingt Dieux by Louise Courvoisier, which tells the story of a group of teenagers in the Jura region.
Covid recovery still ongoing
Yet, despite the strong figures, cinema is still technically recovering from the Covid crisis, with French ticket sales still 12% lower than pre-pandemic years.
However, Mr Henrard believes that the industry is on track for recovery next year.
“If we have a 2025 with French films continuing on their trajectory, and American films making a comeback, we can hope to approach pre-Covid levels. 213 million tickets were sold in 2019,” he said.
A ‘revolution’ despite streaming
He also said that the industry appeared healthy in France, with its “150,000 jobs (being) 13% more than before the crisis”. Mr Henrard was also optimistic about French cinema overall, even despite the rise of streaming platforms.
“Five years ago, we were saying that American platforms were going to kill off French cinema. But on the contrary they are trying to carve out a place for themselves in French cinema,” he said. “It’s a form of revolution.”
