Cinema: attendance bounces in 2022, but remains in decline compared to period preceding COVVI-19

According to the CNC, 152 million admissions were recorded in 2022, year without closure of rooms due to health, unlike 2020 and 2021. But restrictions, such as the vaccination pass and the prohibition of the sale of confectionery , were only lifted in mid-March.

MO12345lemonde with AFP

It is almost a return to normal for dark rooms in France. They recovered three quarters of their attendance before the COVID-19, with 152 million admissions in 2022, according to figures from the National Cinema and Animated Image Center (CNC) unveiled Monday January 2.

The year that has just passed has not experienced room closure due to health, unlike 2020 and 2021. But 2022 remains “a year of transition, still marked by the pandemic”, estimates the CNC , recalling that health restrictions, like the vaccination pass and the ban on the sale of confectionery, were only lifted in mid-March.

The result represents a strong rebound compared to the 95.5 million admissions of 2021 (+ 59.2 %), but remains “behind-26.9 % compared to the pre-Cavid period and to The historically high average of 2017 to 2019 “(207.9 million). The CNC also stressed that the supply of load-bearing films in 2022 was not yet equivalent to that of the pre-Cavid years.

“It is a very encouraging result in a still atypical context. France records one of the best times in the world, with a more limited comparative drop, for example, in the United States, to South Korea, to the ‘Germany, Spain or Italy, “said Dominique Boutonnat, president of the CNC, who said he was confident for 2023, 2> the American blockbusters before 2>

In 2022, the top 5 films remains the prerogative of American blockbusters (Avatar: The Water of Water, Top Gun: Maverick, Minions …), but the market share of French films “was Maintained at the high levels it has reached since 2020 “, especially due to the pandemic and the” relative scarcity of the offer of American films “, notes the CNC. This share amounted to 40.9 %, compared to 37.2 %on average for the period from 2017 to 2019. As for the share of American films, it was 40.5 %. Avatar: The Water of Water, by James Cameron, was the biggest success of the year in France, with 7.6 million admissions since its release, on December 14, according to the CNC.

In 2022, “the whole audience returned to theaters, but being more selective,” said Friday at the France Presse Eric Marti agency, specialist at Comscore, audience analysis company. American films were an “engine” when, on the French side, only the films “with a certain originality” resisted, to the detriment of the big comedies for example.

/Media reports cited above.