This is a significant increase compared to 2020 or 2021, but it seems there will be no return to the record-breaking annual admissions numbers of the previous decade in the short term, due to changed viewing habits and the worsening economic situation.
In 2019, total admissions were 15.2 m. The year 2022 was the first year when cinemas were open all year in Hungary since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Admissions to domestic films decreased from 651,342 in 2021 to 594,894 in 2022. A total of 31 Hungarian films were screened when cinemas reopened at the beginning of May 2021, while 30 domestic productions reached the cinemas in 2022.
Due to the increase in ticket prices, the total gross of Hungarian films was still able to slightly increase from 2.2 m EUR / 872.8 m HUF to 2.3 m EUR / 902.5 m HUF in 2022.
Avatar – The Way of Water (556,786 admissions), Top Gun: Maverick (539,969 admissions) and Minions: The Rise of Gru (520,592 admissions) were the three most popular films in cinemas in 2022.
Moreover, Avatar 2 became the highest-grossing film of all time in Hungary in January 2023, and it is approaching the dream limit of 1 m admissions. Currently, the film has 928,789 admissions.
No Hungarian films made it into the annual Top 10. The most successful domestic production in 2022 was Riviera East / Nyugati nyaralás directed by Dániel Tiszeker and Balázs Lévai, produced by Little Bus Production and distributed by Fórum Hungary, which reached the 35th place with 83,074 admissions.
Two more Hungarian films had more than 50,000 admissions: Be My Dad! / Szia, Életem! directed by Gábor Rohonyi and Csaba Vékes, produced and distributed by Filmsquad, with 61,890 admissions, and Blockade / Blokád directed by Ádám Tősér, produced by Film Positive and distributed by InterCom, with 59,662 admissions. This is a serious drop compared to 2021, when three domestic films attracted more than 100,000 admissions.
Admissions for domestic productions accounted for 5.9% of the 2022 results, compared to 10.4% in 2021.
