BOX OFFICE Germany
More cinema-goers in 2011 thanks to German films
by Bénédicte Prot
05/03/2012 - In 2011, German cinema-goers were enthusiastic. Cinemas recorded 129.6 million admissions (against 126.6 million in 2010 according to figures published by the FFA, which is a progress of around 2.3 %), and they made about 4.1 % more money (about €38m more) than the previous year, leaping from €920.4m to €958.1m and staying above the €900m mark for the third year in a row. This success was notably due to 3D cinema (29.3 million spectators and 22.8 % of the market compared to 25,4 million tickets and 20,4 % of the market in 2010).
And the good news doesn’t stop there. While American cinema lost 5.1 million followers and dropped down to only 77,2 million admissions last year, German cinema did well with 7 million more spectators that last year, bringing the grand total for admissions for local films to 27,9 million. The market share for German films increased modestly from 16.8 % of the market in 2010 to 21,8 % of the market in 2011. Eight out of the 34 films with over 1 million admissions last year in Germany were local films, compared to only five films in 2010.
The most popular German film last year was again one by Til Schweiger, this time Kokowääh [trailer] (photo - 4.3 million admissions), third at the box office after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 [trailer] and Pirates of the Carabbean: On Stranger Tides . Six films out of the box office’s top ten were sequels.
In 2011, up to 532 films were released (compared to 507 and 513 in the previous years), of which 144 were American productions and 212 were German productions (132 fiction films et 80 documentaries). About 42 % of German releases were supported by the FFA, but all together, the German regulator’s financial support (€72.7m) reached 94 % of all German spectators, according to its proud director Peter Dinges.
(Translated from French)
