French cinema attendance down in 2003

PARIS, Jan 14 (AFP) – French cinemas saw an estimated 5.6 percent drop in box office sales in 2003, the CNC national film board said Wednesday.

The CNC believed the fall was due to the bleak economic and international context rather than to competition from DVDs, an official said.

Ticket sales for French films fell 6.2 percent, with the French cinema accounting for a 34.8 percent market share, against 35 percent in 2002. US films registered a slight 0.4 percent increase at the box office, taking their market share to 53 percent against 49.9 percent the previous year.

The yearly estimates follow figures released last month underlining that 2003 also stands to be a less-than-star year also for French film exports, with a 12-percent box office drop worldwide and a sharp decrease in key European markets such as Germany, Italy and Spain.

The fall in tickets sold for the first 11 months of 2003 was strongest in Europe, which usually accounts for two thirds of international sales for French film, according to Unifrance, the body which promotes French film abroad.

French films in the first 11 months of the year sold 37 million tickets abroad, well below the 55 million tickets sold in 2002 and sharply down from the bumper year of 2001, when “Amelie”, the movie shot in Montmartre, swept box-offices worldwide, bolstering French ticket sales to 61.5 million.

Subject: France news