According to the first statistics of the Centre national du cinéma et de l'imageanimé (CNC), cinema attendance in France increased in 2009 by 5.7% to reach the historic level of 200.85 million admissions, a record that has been reached only once since 1968, nearly 30 years ago, in 1982. In a context in which the offer of films is constantly developing on individual screens, the fact that the cinema remains a place of culture widely frequented by the French shows that the attraction of the cinematographic spectacle remains very strong for the public.

The Minister of Culture and Communication, Frédéric Mitterrand, wishes to
congratulate all the professionals who contributed to this historic result, which
fully justifies the department’s support for the entire pipeline
cinematographic.

In short, after an exceptional year 2008 (+7%) thanks in particular to the 20.3
million spectators of «Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis», the admissions
by French films decreased by 13.5% with a market share that remains
Nevertheless, at a high level with 74.46 million admissions or 37%, a result
which is indeed higher than the average of the last ten years (69.85
million). American films, meanwhile, achieve a market share of
49.8%, or 100 million admissions.
In addition, the number of French films that have enjoyed continued success
to grow, thanks to a diversified offering that finds its audience better. Thus, 18
French films garnered more than one million admissions (against 17 in 2008 and 11 in
2007) including 4 films over 3 million admissions.
Finally, the year 2009 continues to show the vitality of French
and its ability to withstand the economic crisis. After a year 2008
rather atypical where there were 3 films with a budget of more than 50 million
2009 is back to the high level of 2006/2007 in
number of films (230 versus 240 in 2007 and 228 in 2006) and investments
(€1.1 billion compared to €1.2 billion in 2007 and €1.15 billion in 2006).