13/06/2006

After a disappointing first trimester marked by a considerable drop in admissions (see news), the previous two months have offered optimism to the Portuguese distribution market.

According to ICAM's latest figures, April attracted over 1.7m admissions (+37.5% than in April 2005) and May registered just over 1.2m moviegoers (15.4% more than in May 2005). Thanks to this favourable upward tendency, total admissions in Portuguese cinemas reached over 6.4m in the first five months of 2006, nearly 151,404 filmgoers more than the same period in 2005.

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown was the top box office hit, grossing almost €2m (with 480,823 admissions), while Match Point [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Pride and Prejudice [+see also:
trailer
film profile] were the most successful European films emerging in a Top 50 largely dominated by US titles.

Woody Allen's murderous tale, set among the British upper class, garnered 206,493 admissions (and €897,895 at the box office), while Joe Wright's adaptation of Jane Austen's novel drew 173,562 admissions (and €715,190). Both titles were distributed by Lusomundo.

Two local titles also made a splash. Continuing its amazing saga that began last October, The Crime of Father Amaro [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (distributed by Lusomundo) was seen by nearly 60,000 people in the first five months of 2006, while Bad Blood [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Tiago Guedes and Frederico Serra (see news), distributed by Atalanta on 81 screens, attracted nearly 30,000 admissions and grossed €116,345.