French Cinema Sees 18.9% Increase in Admissions in 2023

U.S. Films Dominate Box Office, French Films Hold 39.8% Market Share

French cinemas recorded 181 million theater admissions in 2023, a 18.9% increase compared to 2022, but still 13.1% behind the pre-Covid average between 2017 and 2019.
U.S. films dominated the French box office in 2023, with Universal’s The Super Mario Brothers leading with 7.15 million admissions, followed by Warner Bros.'s Barbie with 5.8 million and Disney’s Avatar: The Way of Water with 5.18 million.
French films held a market share of 39.8% in 2023, equating to around 71.9 million admissions. The top French title was Guillaume Canet’s Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom, with 4.48 million admissions.
Despite a decrease in the number of U.S. films released in France, their market share remained stable at 41.3% in 2023.
France's recovery from the pandemic's impact on cinema has been faster than many other countries, with box office figures showing less concentration in the top 30 movies compared to 2022.