Europe's cinema trade association The International Union of Cinemas ('UNIC') has today published a report confirming the importance of the European cinema sector – and international territories more generally – to the continued health of the global film industry.
The emergence of new markets in the Asia-Pacific region – in particular China – has over recent years captured a great deal of media attention. Yet the 36 European territories represented by UNIC now contribute 24 per cent of global box office revenues, on a par with the US (around 27 per cent), with other international markets contributing 48 per cent.
‘Focus Europe’ highlights the diverse and multi-lingual character of the European region, while at the same time pointing out a number of key attributes, including excellence in international collaboration, strong local film production, innovation capacity and a focus on nurturing young audiences.
The report notes that 2015 was an exceptionally strong year for the region, with a 6 per cent increase in cinema admissions and a 9.6 per cent increase in box office revenue across UNIC territories. Within those headline figures, some territories enjoyed particular success. For example, Poland and Germany saw admissions rises of 10.6 and 14.4 per cent respectively while the UK and Spain saw box office increase by 17.4 and 9.2 per cent.
"CinemaCon will once again see the most important gathering of cinema operators and their partners in the industry calendar, recognising the key influence brought to bear by US colleagues.
It seems fitting that we launch 'Focus Europe' on International Day at CinemaCon, which allows us to celebrate the growing contribution made by international territories, now accounting for 73 per cent of total global box office. Within that headline figure, Europe makes up a large part of this contribution - € 8.6 billion in 2015 ($ 9.76 billion). Our report underlines the key contribution that UNIC members continue to make to the global success story that is the film industry," said Jan Runge, CEO of UNIC
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