{"id":263895,"date":"2026-01-02T19:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T19:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/263895\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T19:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T19:20:10","slug":"french-box-office-drops-13-in-2025-to-1-17-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/263895\/","title":{"rendered":"French Box Office Drops 13% in 2025 to $1.17 Billion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAfter a bullish year bolstered by local blockbusters, the 2025 French box office dropped by 13.6% to 156.79 million admissions, according to the National Film Board<\/a> (CNC) and Comscore reports. Based on the average ticket price of \u20ac7.45 ($8.75), the box office grossed an estimated $1.17 billion.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile the market share of French films rose to 37.7% \u2014 which is \u201cunrivaled anywhere else in Europe,\u201d per the CNC \u2014 the box office suffered from the absence of a local tentpole and was essentially dominated by Hollywood fare. Disney took the first three slots of the year with \u201cZootopia 2<\/a>,\u201d which topped the chart with 6.18 million admissions, followed by \u201cLilo & Stitch\u201d (5.10 million) and James Cameron\u2019s \u201cAvatar: Fire & Ash\u201d (4.58 million). Then came Apple and Plan B\u2019s Brad Pitt racing drama \u201cF1: The Movie\u201d (3.31 million) and Universal\u2019s \u201cJurassic World Rebirth\u201d (2.97 million).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe biggest local hit of 2025, \u201cGod Save the Tuche\u201d \u2014 the fifth installment in Path\u00e9\u2019s comedy franchise \u2014 sold around 3 million tickets and was the only French film which made it in the top 10 (in the sixth spot). Four local films appeared in the top 30, notably Cedric Jimenez\u2019s ambitious sci-fi thriller \u201cDog 51.\u201d That\u2019s a stark contrast from 2024, when the top three French films in 2024 (\u201cA Little Something Extra,\u201d \u201cThe Count of Monte Cristo\u201d and \u201cBeating Hearts\u201d) had garnered 25 million admissions combined.<\/p>\n

\n\tInternationally, France was the market that \u201cshowed the most severe year-on-year decline in 2025,\u201d Comscore said in its report, noting that markets such as Germany, China and Australia recorded growth. The U.S. and Canada saw a slight increase in box office revenue, while the U.K. ended the year on the same level as in 2024. But the CNC flags that France still hosts Europe\u2019s leading nation of moviegoers. Germany closed the year at roughly 85 million admissions, followed by Italy at 67 million and Spain at 65 million, per the CNC.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe breadth of local films released throughout the year contributed to the high market share. Several French titles posted solid runs; for instance Ken Scott\u2019s \u201cOnce Upon My Mother\u201d crossed 1.4 million admissions, Franck Dubosc\u2019s \u201cUn ours dans le Jura\u201d reached around 1.4 million and Thierry Klifa\u2019s \u201cThe Richest Woman in the World\u201d starring Isabelle Huppert sold nearly 900,000 tickets.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs it often is in France, auteur-driven cinema remained a bright spot, delivering sleeper hits and surpassing expectations. The CNC cited the strong performance of Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s \u201cOne Battle After Another,\u201d Oliver Laxe\u2019s \u201cSir\u00e2t,\u201d Kleber Mendon\u00e7a Filho\u2019s \u201cThe Secret Agent,\u201d Jafar Panahi\u2019s \u201cIt Was Just an Accident,\u201d Joachim Trier\u2019s \u201cSentimental Value,\u201d Ugo Bienvenu\u2019s \u201cArco\u201d and Hafsia Herzi\u2019s \u201cThe Little Sister.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c2025 was a mixed year for theatrical cinema, with a declining market due to a lack of unifying films and surprise hits like in 2024, but with a sharp rebound at the end of the year, driven by a strong offering of films, particularly American ones,\u201d said Ga\u00ebtan Bruel, president of the CNC. \u201cThis result should not obscure the relevance of our model in the long term: a network of theaters with unparalleled density that allows a wide variety of films to reach all audiences, and a market share for domestic films that makes France an exception in Europe and around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe year ended on a rebound, powered by a cluster of U.S. pics. Besides \u201cZootopia 2\u2033 and \u201cAvatar: Fire and Ash<\/a>,\u201d Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried\u2019s erotic thriller \u201cThe Housemaid\u201d (released in France by Metropolitan Filmexport) proved to be a late-year hit, released on Dec. 24 and drawing 1.1 million admissions in just a week; as well as Vincent Munier\u2019s wildlife documentary \u201cLe chant des forets\u201d with 360,000 admissions.<\/p>\n

\n\tBruel is optimistic about the prospects for 2026. Addressing the healthy performance of director-led films, he argued that French audiences are lured by \u201coriginal and daring offerings.\u201d He added, \u201cFrom this point of view, 2026 promises to be a very rich year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAmong the most promising 2026 releases cited by the National Exhibitors Federation (FNCF) are: Christopher Nolan\u2019s \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d Steven Spielberg\u2019s \u201cDisclosure Day,\u201d Andrew Stanton\u2019s \u201cToy Story 5,\u201d Antonin Baudry\u2019s \u201cDe Gaulle\u201d and Philippe Lacheau\u2019s \u201cMarsupilami.\u201d There\u2019s also Denis Villeneuve\u2019s \u201cDune: Part 3,\u201d Ruben Ostlund\u2019s \u201cThe Entertainment System is Down,\u201d James Gray\u2019s \u201cPaper Tiger\u201d and Alejandro Gonz\u00e1lez I\u00f1\u00e1rritu\u2019s \u201cDigger\u201d in the pipeline. <\/p>\n

\n\tTop 10 movies at the French box office (in admissions) in 2025: <\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cZootopia 2\u201d: 6.18 million<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cLilo & Stitch\u201d: 5.10 million<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAvatar: Fire & Ash\u201d:\u00a04.58 million<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cF1: The Movie\u201d: 3.31 million<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cJurassic World: Renaissance\u201d: 2.97 million<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGod Save the Tuche\u201d: 2.95 million<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cA Minecraft Movie\u201d: 2.66 million<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMufasa: The Lion King\u201d: 2.64 million<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHow To Train Your Dragon\u201d: 2.55 million<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMission: Impossible \u2013 The Final Reckoning\u201d: 2.46 million<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a bullish year bolstered by local blockbusters, the 2025 French box office dropped by 13.6% to 156.79…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":263896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[56379,18,117,19,17,135368,327,135369,26098],"class_list":{"0":"post-263895","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-avatar-fire-and-ash","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-lilo-stitch","14":"tag-movies","15":"tag-national-film-board","16":"tag-zootopia-2"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115827128582136007","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}