September 2022 was the worst month at the French box office since records began in 1980, excluding the pandemic year of 2020, according to figures released by the CNC.
Ticket sales dipped by 20.7% compared to September 2021 to 7.4m admissions. This was a decline of 34.2% compared to a pre-pandemic September 2019.
In the year to date until September 30, French cinemas had garnered 105 million admissions, 30.3% less than the same period in 2019 and 29.1% less than the 2017-2019 average.
Fifty-four films were released in September 2022 compared to 59 in September 2019, averaging 14 films per week. Just five US titles were released in theatres, compared to 10 films in 2021 and 12 films in 2019. a The market share for French films is estimated at 39.6% for the first nine months of 2022 and for US films at 37.9%.
Three of the top five spots in September are held by French titles, with Jerome Salle’s thriller Kompromat (released September 7 by SND ) leading the way. The first US film in the ranking and in third place overall was Avatar, Disney’s re-release of James Cameron’s 2009 film that was re-released on September 21 in French theatres.
In September 2021, Warner Bros France’s Dune and Disney’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings both performed well.This year, Kompromat and the Avatar re-release were the only two titles to break the 500,000 admissions barrier.
Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling started off strong in third place when it was released on September 21 via Warner Bros. France with 151,272 tickets sold in its first week in theatres. But the film dropped 37% to just 95,000 tickets sold in its second week in France, falling to seventh place. Christian Carion’s French-language comedy Une Belle Course sold an impressive 180,000 tickets in its first week of release via Pathe, but dropped 33% in its second week to fifth place.
Viva la femmes
In more positive news, films by French women directors have been performing well and may help boost the box office going forward. Rebecca Zlotowski’s Venice title Other People’s Children hit French theatres on September 21 for the best opening of the director’s career to date and best first week for distributor Ad Vitam.
Currently in the top five in 330 theatres, it had the second best site average for its first week in release (432 spectators per site) and has already raked in more admissions than for the director’s first two titles combined.
Alice Winocour’s Revoir Paris saw a boost to its admissions as well, claiming sixth place at the French box office with 375,000 admissions to date, already breaking box office records for Winocour. Both films notably star actress Virginie Efira.
Paramount’s horror film Smile also has local theatre owners grinning, with the best first weekend of the year for a horror film It was ahead of another Paramount production, Scream (185,000 tickets in January).
French cinema owners are hoping October will be more promising with anticipated French titles including Cedric Jimenez’ Cannes title November (Studiocanal), Olivier Dahan’s Simone Veil: A Woman of the Century (Warner Bros France) and Nicolas Bedos’ Mascarade (Pathe) set for release. US titles include Black Adam (Warner Bros France), Halloween Ends (Universal) and George Clooney-Julia Roberts starrer Ticket To Paradise (Universal).
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