Box-office revenues in Germany fell year-on-year by almost 9% in 2010, according to figures collated by Rentrak EDI.

While 2009 had seen German cinemas posting $1.2bn (€ 966m) in revenues, 2010 saw box office drop by 8.9% to $1.1bn (€ 879.7m).

Rentrak EDI reported a 17.4% contraction in admissions — from 2009’s 144m to last year’s 118.9m — and industry observers suggest that overall box-office takings would have been lower had it not been for the “cushioning effect” of the higher prices for 3D tickets.

The lower admissions in 2010 – influenced in part no doubt by in the summer months by the World Cup in South Africa – resulted in the market share for US films slipping by 9% from 2009’s 72.5% although the share of box-office takings increased year-on-year by 1% thanks to 3D.

However, local producers are faced with the sobering fact that more than 50% fewer tickets were sold for German (co-) productions during 2010 than in the previous 12 months. While 2009 had seen 39.9m cinema-goers buy a ticket for a German film or a co-production with German involvement, only 18.4m tickets were sold for such films last year. The domestic market share consequently slipped from 25.5% to 13.6% (according to box-office revenues) and from 26.9% to 15.5.% (according to admissions).

Constantin Film’s international co-production Resident Evil: Afterlife was the top-performing German release ($14.4m/€ 11.2m), while Sony Pictures Releasing’s Friendship! attracted the most admissions (1.52m) for a German film in 2010.

Top 10 – Germany 2010

1 Avatar Fox $ 107.4m

2 Harry Potter 7 Warner Bros. $ 50.6m

3 Alice In Wonderland Walt Disney $ 36.5m

4 Inception Warner Bros. $ 33.5m

5 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Concorde $ 30.7m

6 Despicable Me Universal $ 25.6m

7 Shrek Forever After Paramount $ 25.1m

8 Tangled Walt Disney $ 23.7m

9 Sex And The City 2 Warner Bros. $ 22.8m

10 Grown Ups Sony Int’l $ 17.8m

Source: Rentrak EDI

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