28/02/2013 - The Federal Film Board (FFA) presents the annual report for 2012 with a record box office of €1.033 billion

In 2012, German exhibitors generated their highest revenues ever - according to the current report of the Federal Film Board, the total box office in Germany increased 7.8% to €1.033 bn. Between January and December 2012, 135.1 million cinema tickets were sold in Germany, which represents an increase of 4.2%.

The three top films of the year were Intouchables [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (photo - 8.9 million) Skyfall [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile] (7.5 million)  and Ice Age 4 (6.7 million) while the German market share dropped from 21.8% to 18.1% in 2012. Among the 2,434 theatrically released films were 551 premieres.  The advancing digital roll-out also provided the basis for a growning number of 3D films in the theatres, with one in five viewers choosing a 3D film. With a total of 40 films, the 3D market share went up to 21.8% and garnered box office returns of € 28.9 million.

The release of 3D films also had an impact on ticket prices. The average entrance fee increased from  €7.39 in 2011 to  €7.65, which is also one of the reasons for the high box office result. The good news was that fewer cinemas had to close their doors last year, with the number of screens decreasing from 4,640 to 4,617. The FFA spent more than €12 million in support of exhibitors, who had to modernize their theatres, as well as another €10 million for the digitazition of the projection systems in smaller art-house cinemas. 

Much film funding money traditionally flows into film production. The FFA supported 49 film projects with €15.9 million. The highest sum of €800,000 went to the new Fatih Akin film The Cut. German producers also can apply for production support at the various regional film funds. Altogether, in 2012 there was €343.54 million of public money available for the German film industry. The full brochure with all the facts and figures is available for download here.