23/05/2003

Film attendance in Europe varied from country to country, according to the latest edition of European exhibition association, MEDIA Salles’ quarterly newsletter, the “European Cinema Journal”,presented in Cannes. The overall picture is one of stability with an 0.7 per cent increase in ticket sales in the 16 West European territories under observation although significant variations were noted between individual countries.
France leads Europe in terms of film attendance with a total of 184.46 million tickets sold in 2002, down 0.7 per cent with respect to 2001 (which was a record year).
Ticket sales in Spain were down by 4.2 per cent after 12 years of steady growth (1989-2001) and attendance in Germany dropped by 7.9 per cent from 178 million in 2001 to 164 million last year. One of the reasons for the German downturn was the lack of a strong tent-pole title like Manitou’s Shoe, which sold over 10.5 million tickets in 2001.
Italy and the United Kingdom both performed well. The Italian screens that were operational for at least 60 days totalled around 108 million tickets, a 2.7 per cent increase on 2001 while the UK saw a 13 per cent increase when 20 million more tickets were sold bringing annual sales to 176 million. The United Kingdom holds Europe’s second-best cinema attendance figures.
Unlike the differences observed between the five biggest European territories, smaller states maintained a relative stability. Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean basin countries however did badly. Nine of the thirteen territories analysed by MEDIA Salles experts reported a 5 per cent drop in ticket sales with the area’s total standing at 99 million, 5 million down on 2001.
For ulterior information: MEDIA Salles.

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