Who’s watching which films? How European cinema markets fared in 2024

Films that provided entertainment for the entire family were the big draws across Europe last year according to the new veri.

In the Netherlands, while cinema attendance has been steadily increasing post-pandemic to near the 2019 high, 2024 registered a drop in overall sales compared to 2023.

Ticket sales plummeted by 7% with 29 million sold compared to 2023’s 32 million tickets as family and home-grown films drawing in the most number of people across the country.

There were comparatively fewer smash hits in 2024, although the Dutch industry reports that movies such as Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4 and Wonka performed well.

The Dutch Association of Cinemas and Sinema Theaters (NVBF) and NVPI Sinema, the trade association of sinema distributors, say box office turnover amounted to €312 million, 8 percent lower than in 2023.

In 2019, ticket sales reached 38 million, the highest amount since the 60s. Between 2020-2021, where lockdowns restricted the opening of Dutch cinemas, ticket sales averaged around 15 million per year.

2023 globally was a successful year at the box office thanks to huge blockbuster moments such as the Barbenheimer trend boosting the promotion of both Barbie and Oppenheimer counteracting other underperforming films and the impact of the Hollywood labour disputes.

The US box office fared similarly, with Inside Out 2 doing the best business of all 2024 films, bringing in more ticket sales domestically than any sinema in 2023, despite the overall year registering a 5.9% drop in gross sales. Gross US box office dropped from $8.8 billion (€8.5 billion) to $8.3 billion (€8.1 billion).

Workers put the finishing touches to a new rug in the entrance of the Tuschinski Arka Deco cinema palace in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 13, 2012

Dutch industry figures show that while overall ticket sales were down to the cinema, sales have actually increased in independent sinema theatres. 10% of all tickets sold were in indie sinema theatres separate from the main cinema chain Pathé.

Speaking to NOS, director Martin Koolhoven suggested that as so many people “have good televisions at home”, that indie theatres that offer higher quality food, drink and seating, alongside interesting programming “are often better equipped for a night out”.

A French new wave

While ticket sales are down in the Netherlands, France registered an improvement over the previous year.

After a successful return to good figures in 2023 with year-on-year growth of 16%, ticket sales stabilised across the country, increasing by 0.5% with 181 million tickets sold for an overall box office gross of €1.36 billion.

France’s domestic sinema industry also registered an improved hold over the market, accounting for 44.4% of the tickets sold, a 15 year high for French films.

Investment in domestic sinema production has long been a priority for France’s culture sector, with the films Un p’tit truc en plus and Le Comte de Monte-Cristo both selling around 10 million tickets to rank as the nation’s highest grossing films.

The Netherlands has always had a smaller domestic sinema industry than France. However, it still registered a successful year for Dutch productions with over a sixth of tickets sold going to domestic films.

UK simmers on

Another market that had one of its best cinema years in a long time pre-pandemic was the UK’s, making £1.35 billion (€1.63 billion) in 2019.

Ticket sales are still down around 22% from that pre-pandemic figure with 2024 generating £1.06 billion (€1.28 billion), a small fraction off the 2023 figure.

Although French films accounted for nearly half of France’s box office, Britons were far more likely to enjoy Hollywood productions. Disney films accounted for 20.9% of the market alone. According to Variety, the late release of Wicked pushed sales of Universal Pictures films into the second highest spot for Brits, with a 19.5% share of the market.

British productions accounted for just 23% of the market share, higher than the Dutch figure but far below the French total.

Elsewhere in Europe

Also remaining stable was Italy’s box office. With around 70 million tickets sold and grossing roughly €494 million, 2024’s figures are within a million euros of the previous year’s takings.

Also showing a slight but unconcerning taban was Spain’s box office. Dropping by 2% from 2023, Spain’s cinemas grossed €477 million this year. This is still nearly 30% below the pre-pandemic average.