11/05/2006

According to figures announced earlier this week by the European Audiovisual Observatory, the volume of European feature film production increased in 2005. This rise comes together with a drop in admissions in all major E.U. markets, while market shares for European films remained stable at 25%.

A total of 798 feature films were produced last year in the 25 EU Member States, 37 more films than in 2004. Most territories kept or increased their production volumes, although new production records were reached in France (240 films), Germany (146) and Spain (142).

The increase is very much related to co-production systems, and in Germany's case in particular, the production of documentary features augmented from 34 films in 2004 to 43 in 2005. Contrary to this co-production trend, the UK reported an increase in the number of entirely nationally produced films. Other European countries also raised their production volumes – such as Denmark (+ 16 films), Estonia (+ 3), Slovenia (+ 4) and Sweden (+3) – while Italy produced only 86 films in 2005, against 138 in 2004.

In spite of the increase in production volume, admissions dropped by 11% when compared to 2004. Paradoxically, the three countries beating local volume of production all reported double-digit drops: Germany (- 18.8%), Spain (-12.5%) and France (-10.1%). Other European markets – such as Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Sweden – reported admissions drops for the second consecutive year. The less affected territories, with a less than 5% decrease, were Ireland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia and the UK.

Despite the general decline in admissions, the market share of European films remained stable (24.6% against 25.2% in 2004). These percentages do not include films produced in Europe, usually in the UK, with US investment, which account for 13.3% of the market. US films reported a 59.9% share while films from the rest of the world account for only 2.2%.

UK/US title Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (over 41m admissions) was the most successful film in Europe of 2005, a year in which the adaptation of literary works continued to make a splash at the box office, including US film War of the Worlds (23.9m admissions), UK/US title Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (over 20m) and Pride And Prejudice [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which attracted 4.7m filmgoers.