Cinema exhibition with an increase of more than 300% in the first semester. Numbers still below pre-pandemic times, says ICA

Portuguese cinemas registered an increase of more than 300% in audience and box office in the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2021, but the values ​​remain below the cinematographic exhibition before the pandemic, according to data. Released this Tuesday.

According to the six-monthly statistics released this Tuesday by the Film and Audiovisual Institute (ICA), movie theaters in Portugal get four million viewers and around 23 million euros in gross box office receipts, which is an increase of more than 300% compared to the first half of 2021.

In terms of audience, the first half of 2021 had registered only 892,950 viewers and, in terms of box office, 4.9 million euros.

Despite the increase recorded by the ICA, these values ​​for this year they remain below the cinematographic exhibition in Portugal before the pandemic.

Comparing data, in the first half of 2019 there were 6.6 million viewers and 35.6 million euros in box office receipts.

This year’s increase was mainly due to action, fantasy and superhero movies.

According to the ICA, the most watched film this year by the Portuguese was “Top Gun: Maverick”, by Joseph Kosinski, starring Tom Cruise, released on May 26, which added 501,227 viewers and 3.2 million euros in revenue.

With more than one million euros in turnover, “Uncharted”, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”, “The Batman”, “Fantastic Animals: Dumbledore’s Secrets” and “Spider-Man: No Homecoming” were in the living room.

“Salgueiro Maia – O Implicado”, by Sérgio Graciano, was the most watched Portuguese film until June, with 15,901 viewers and 86,842 viewers.

Of the total of 23 million euros at the box office obtained this semester, only 1.1% (256,929 euros) refers to Portuguese cinema. The audience share of released Portuguese films, compared to a total of four million viewers, was 1.3%.

According to ICA data, on average each movie session had 17 viewers this year.

In the first semester, the four main exhibition companies -NOS, UCI, Cineplace and Cinema City- represented 91.2% of the national market in terms of box office receipts.