Record-breaking high temperatures across France in late June have sent theatrical admissions soaring as local audiences flock to cinemas, among the few places in the country with air conditioning.
Three million admissions or approximately €22.2m ticket sales based on an average price of €7.40, were clocked over the week between June 17 and 23, up 52% compared to the previous week according to figures from Rentrak. That is 54% more than the same week last year when 1.95 million tickets were sold.
With many French schools closed due to the heat, Woody and Buzz Lightyear have been taking over babysitting duties as younger audiences have flocked to see Pixar franchise Toy Story 5 (Disney), which sold more than 1 million tickets in its first week in cinemas. The heatwave-driven closures also appeared to give June 24th release Minions & Monsters (Universal) a boost after its Annecy world premiere, with an opening day clocking nearly 174,000 admissions.
In a rare comeback coup, Pathe’s high-budget historical drama De Gaulle: Resistance, the first of its two-part World War II epic, saw a 17% jump in ticket sales in its third week in cinemas, with 271,000 admissions after a slow start with under 400,000 admissions in its debut and 230,000 the following week, bringing it to nearly 1 million admissions.
Pathe’s second instalment De Gaulle: Liberte is heading for a rare Friday release on June 26 to take advantage of a boost from the FNCF’s La Fête du Cinema initiative, an annual event held this year from June 28 through July 1 when ticket sales cost just €5.
Kane Parsons’ Backrooms (Metropolitan Filmexport) opened on June 17 with a first week tally of more than 485,000 admissions and Curry Barker’s Obsession (Le Pacte) held steady, selling 124,000 more tickets to its more than one million tally since its May 13 release.
“It’s not just the heat effect, it’s also a strong programming offer,” said Eric Marti, general manager of Rentrak France. “There is something for everyone of all ages, Toy Story and Minions & Monsters for kids, Backrooms and Obsession for horror fans, and a balance of both French and Hollywood films.
“The fact that cinemas are air-conditioned is so ingrained in people’s minds in France now that when the weather gets warmer, going to the movies becomes a natural reflex,” Marti suggested.
According to the FNCF, there are 6,300 screens in 2,000 cinemas in France. Not all of them have air conditioning, particularly single-screen municipal cinemas, but even then, they are quite well-insulated according to national regulations. After Covid, cinemas were obligated to renovate and undergo modernisation work under CNC regulations and, in particular, air conditioning.
The mayor of Paris’ 10th arrondissement has offered free cinema tickets to residents of the central Paris neighbourhood under 25 years old or over age 65, pregnant women and disabled people at three theatres L’Archipel, le Brady and le Louxor. The initiative is called “Ciné-clim” with “clim” being a slang for “climatisation” which means air conditioning in French.
Temperatures have broken records all over France, with the country clocking its hottest day ever on Wednesday, and high temperatures expected to continue through the weekend. The punishing heat has forced sites such as Eiffel Tower and the Louvre museum to restrict visiting hours, narrowing culture options and making cinemagoing even more alluring.
Last June, the French box office slumped into summer with a 23% drop year on year on box office admissions to a total of 10.9 million ticket sales for the month, so this year’s prospects are already looking up.
Meteorologists are also predicting another heatwave in the first half of July as potential blockbusters such as Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey (Universal) and Spider-Man : Brand New Day (Sony), Supergirl (Warner Bros.) and likely local crowd-pleasures like Comedie Francaise (Zinc.) head to French theatres.
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