The French box office continued its strong summer surge with 18.71 million admissions in July, the best for the month since 2011, according to figures from the CNC.
The Count Of Monte-Cristo, released June 28, led the charge with 4 million admissions in July for a total of 5.2 million. Pathé’s historical epic was followed by Inside Out 2 (Disney), which added 3.4 million admissions for a 7.2 million total since its June 19 release, and Despicable Me 4 (Universal), which launched on July 10 and has sold 2.7 million tickets.
French comedy A Little Something Extra (Pan Distribution) continued to perform strongly after 13 weeks in cinemas, selling 1.2 million tickets in July. Its total now sits at 9.6 million tickets sold, with added momentum after Pan added a 12-minute ‘making of’ to the original film.
Deadpool vs Wolverine (Disney), which came out on July 24, rounded out the top five with 1.2 million tickets sold. Admissions were also boosted by the annual Fête du Cinéma, when tickets are priced at €5, with 4.55 million tickets sold during its four-day run (June 30-July 3).
The results put July admissions 2.2% ahead of last year, when the month was powered by the releases of Barbie and Oppenheimer, and 12.1% above the pre-pandemic 2017-2019 average of 16.7 million.
The boost has helped stabilise the French box office. Across the first seven months of 2024, ticket sales are now only 5.5% behind last year with 103.48 million tickets sold.
French titles have also been reclaiming audience share this year, with a market share of 45.4% compared to 35.6% for US titles.
Olympic competition
With the arrival of the Paris Olympics on July 26, France’s summer surge looks to be cooling off, and August is off to a slow start.
France’s box office starts on Wednesdays, and Day 1 – July 31 – was drastically lower than in previous weeks: The Garfield Movie (Sony) sold 76,520 tickets, The Price Of Money – A Largo Winch Adventure (Pan Distribution) achieved a modest 32,000 and MaXXXine (Condor) also struggled with 15,820.
August is typically a slow month for French cinemas with most moviegoers hitting the pause button for extended holidays. However, last August defied the trend with a 52% jump in ticket sales to 15.91 million, largely thanks to Barbenheimer.
French distributors don’t seem to be anticipating a similar upsurge this year with most major French and US titles being held for the autumn, including Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice (Warner Bros) in September, Beating Hearts (Studiocanal) and Monsieur Aznavour (Pathe) in October, and Gladiator II (Paramount) and Moana 2 (Disney) in November.
The Olympic Games wrap on August 11 before the Paralympic Games run August 28 to September 8.
No comments yet