European Box Office 2004-2005
by Andre Soares
Via Reuters/The Hollywood Reporter:
The box-office take in most European countries has been considerably lower than a year ago.
In Germany, admissions are nearly 20% lower in the first six months of the year compared to the same period last year. In Italy and France there has been a 17% drop, in the Netherlands 18%, and in Spain 12%.
The reasons given for the lower figures range from film piracy and unappealing Hollywood fare (as if previous years had offered great summer movies coming out of Hollywood studios) to the market penetration of DVDs and this summer’s heat wave.
***
According to the Strasbourg-based European Audiovisual Observatory, 1.05 billion cinema tickets were sold in the European Union’s 25 member states in 2004, the second time since 1990 that cinema attendance in the EU surpassed the 1 billion mark.
European films accounted for 26.5 percent of tickets sold last year, versus 71.1 percent for American films.
With 194.8 million tickets sold, a 12.3 percent rise from the previous year (partly helped by domestic box-office hits such as Les Choristes / The Chorus), France led the EU nations in ticket sales. The United Kingdom came in second place with 171.3 million, and Germany, though considerably more populous than either France or the UK, in third with 156.7 million.
The biggest grossers in the EU were Shrek 2 (43.1 million tickets), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (40.2 million), and Troy (26.9 million).
***
Britons spent a record of nearly £840m (approx. US$1.577 billion) on movie tickets in 2004. Audience figures for the January-November period also rose from 148.5 million in 2003 to 156.7 million last year.
The top-earning film in the United Kingdom was the animated adventure Shrek 2, which grossed £48 million (approx. US$90m), followed by Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, with £36.1 million (approx. US$67.8m), both of which were classified PG.
Audience attendance reached a 31-year-high in 2001, when 176 million Britons went to the movies.
Source: The Scotsman.
***
According to Deutsche Welle, German movie houses took in 10 percent more in box office receipts in 2004 when compared to the previous year. Peter Dinges of the German Federal Film Board (FFA) told Der Spiegel that 2004 has been the second most successful year for German films since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
During the first nine months this year, German films comprised 20.5% of the local box-office, the highest percentage since the FFA began collecting data in 1995. The year’s biggest homemade box-office hit has been Michael Herbig’s (T)raumschiff Surprise — Periode 1 (Dreamship Surprise — Period 1), a Star Trek spoof starring Herbig and Til Schweiger.
Glenn Close to Star in Film Version of SUNSET BOULEVARD
Karlovy Vary Film Festival 2005 Winners
Outfest 2005: The 23rd Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
Comments
Leave a Reply
Note: All comments are moderated. Different views and opinions are welcome, but abusive/bigoted/flaming comments will NOT be approved. Also, please be aware that the Alternative Film Guide has NO contact information for the talent mentioned in this blog or any information pertaining to or access to distributors'/producers' film prints.
