Some experts predicted the death of cinemas in favor of video platforms. It is not so. In France, in 2023, 30 million additional entries have been recorded compared to 2022. While this figure certainly does not yet mark a return to the 2019 level, professionals are rather very satisfied.
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This vitality of cinema attendance in France is due to the success of two American films. Super Mario Bros, animated film adapted from the video game created in 1985 by Nintendo. It appealed to several generations, and brought together almost 7.5 million spectators. And then there was the phenomenon barbieby director Greta Gerwig, a contemporary variation of male-female relationships, echoing the famous globalized doll produced by Mattel.
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In third position, a nice surprise with Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan which tells in three hours the fate of the inventor of the atomic bomb.
If these 182 million admissions are mainly due to American blockbusters, French cinema is also doing well: 40% of admissions were made by French films. This is very good compared to the European average. And there too, the family show is acclaimed with sure values Asterix and Obelix, the Middle Kingdom by Guillaume Canet which had 4.6 million admissions, but also Alibi.com 2 by Philippe Lacheau in the “schoolboy comedy” style, The three Musketeers : part 1, D’Artagnanreleased in April 2023 and part 2, Milady, released in December by Martin Bourboulon, proof that the classics are still popular. During the end-of-year holidays, on certain days, 100,000 people went to see Miladybig success for this beautiful swashbuckling production.
For completeness, among the films which have exceeded one million admissions, we must also mention the children’s film Miraculous with the famous heroine Ladybug or the supercharged comedy Three days max, by Tarek Boudali but also more demanding films like the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival Anatomy of a fall by Justine Triet, 1.3 million entries.
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Several flops should also be noted: a big disappointment for the man who is generally one of the best supporters of French cinema, Dany Boon, director of several big hits like Welcome to the Ch’tis. He did not succeed in his bet with Life for real, one of the most expensive films of the year which only attracted 800,000 spectators.
Also poor performance, perhaps linked to the post # waveMeToo and the various sexual scandals; the American Woody Allen, the Frenchman Luc Besson and the latest film by Gérard Depardieu, Umami, were clearly shunned by the public. Probably also because it is young people who are returning to the cinema. 18/25 year olds benefit from the 300 euros culture pass, initiated by the French government. The seniors have not yet completely found their way back to the gyms.
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2024 risks being a little more complicated at the start of the year with the four-month strike by screenwriters and actors in Hollywood which led to the postponement of the release of around ten major productions like Avatar 3 for example which will not be released until 2025.
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It is still too early to make assessments. But Richard Patry, the president of the National Federation of French Cinemasdisplays its ambitions: it hopes to return to the level before the pandemic, that is to say 200 million admissions per year.