12/05/2006

After a significant drop in admissions in 2005 (24m compared to 33m in 2004), Polish audiences have begun returning to theatres in 2006. Admissions figures for the first three months of this year are comparable to those for the same period in 2004 (12m): between January and March 2006, admissions totalled 11.6m.

Further good news is that Polish films are back in favour with audiences. While in 2005 no title garnered admissions of over 250,000, local box-office results for recent months have been much more encouraging, with the trend now being reversed.

Romantic comedy is the favourite genre with Polish audiences, with such films as Tylko mnie kochaj (lit. “But You Must Love Me”) by Ryszard Zatorski and Ja wam pokażę (lit. “You Will See That”) by Denis Delic beating all previous records (respectively, 1.7m admissions, released in January 2006 and 1.1m admissions, released in February 2006).

Successful comedies recently distributed include Francuski numer (lit. “The French Number”) by Robert Wichrowski (260,000 tickets sold, released March 2006) and Hi Way by Jacek Borusiński (88,100, released May 2006). Polish audiences are not interested in only entertainment cinema, however. They are also becoming increasingly interested in more serious films, such as Wszyscy jesteśmy Chrystusami (lit. “We Are All Christs”) by Marek Koterski, which garnered 147,200 admissions (released April 21, 2006), Jasminum by Jan Jakub Kolski – (seen by 23,800 cinemagoers within three days of its release on May 5, 2005).

This increase in admissions is good news for the multiplex network, which has to deal with more intense competition. Recently, Max Film, a new investor, has come on the market with the plan to open at least 5 multiplexes (the first of which has already been up and running since April 28) by the end of 2007. Cinema City (18 cinemas) is currently building cinema complexes in seven Polish cities, while Multikino, which has eight cinemas at present, also has announced plans for expansion.

(Translated from French)