07/01/2010

Largely dominated by US cinema, which has 17 titles in the yearly top 20 (including the leader Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs with 433m forints in takings), the 2009 season in Hungarian theatres closed on a positive note with an estimated 4% increase in annual audience figures and a 14% surge in takings in Budapest cinemas.

European cinema made the most of this upturn with UK and German co-productions Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (305m forints in takings) and Inglourious Basterds [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (182m forints), which respectively claim second and sixth place in the rankings, as well as UK director Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Danny Boyle
film profile], which is in 13th position with 123m forints (distributed by Fórum).

As for Hungarian features, 2009 shone a spotlight on Made in Hungaria. Distributed by Budapest Film, this musical feature by Gergely Fonyo (see interview) amassed 113m forints in earnings and is 17th in the rankings.

Meanwhile, Gábor Herendi’s A Kind of America 2 (also launched by Budapest Film), still occupies eighth place in the 2009 box office rankings (172m forints), even though it was released in December 2008.

In the annual ranking of distributors, Intercom reclaimed top position with a 42.61% market share, ahead of Fórum, which rose to 24.48%. UIP also made it onto the podium, having dropped to 16.23%.

Trailing far behind are Budapest Films (6.79%), Palace Pictures (2.16%), Best Hollywood, I.T. Cinema City, Hungaricom, Skyfilm, CinemaStar, Intersonic, Cirko Films, HCC Media Group, Szuez Film and Odeon.

(Translated from French)