01-06-2009

Hungarian box office up, attendance down

By Gyorgy Karpati

    Attendance at Hungarian cinemas went into its seond year of decline, dropping 7.3% to 10,352,494, while box office increased 2.1% to €35 million, and the number of the screenings increased 9% according to the statistics of the National Film Office (www.nemzetifilmiroda.hu).

    US films topped the charts (Mamma Mia with 746,000, admissions, Madagascar 2 with 411,000). Of the 206 theatrical releases, 25 were Hungarian films, claiming a total attendance of 929,000. The most popular Hungarian releases were the romantic comedy 9 and ½ Dates by Tamas Sas (201,420 viewers) and A Kind of America 2 (180,000 viewers), released December 18.

    UIP-Duna Film (www.uipduna.hu) was the leading distribution company in 2008 with 35.8% of the market. It was followed by InterCom (www.intercom.hu), founded in 1989 by American producer Andrew G. Vajna, with 31.5% and Forum Film Hungary (www.forumhungary.hu) with 12.8%.
    Published in Hungary
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