16-08-2010

Hungarian ticket prices rise

By Zsolt Gyenge

    Hungarian ticket prices and sales rose in the first half of 2010, while the number of screenings declined, according to magyar.film.hu.

    Avatar, which sold more than 1 million tickets, accounts for a considerable portion of the increase in attendance. The number of total admissions grew to3.96 million compared to 3.88 million in the first half of 2009. Box office rose to 4.77 billion HUF from 3.99 billion in the same period.

    Admissions for Hungarian films decreased again; in 2009 almost 10% of the tickets were sold by Hungarian productions, while in the first half of 2010 Hungarian films accounted for only 6%. Usually evey year there are 2 or 3 Hungarian films which surpass 100,000 admissions, but 2010 has seen only one, Dénes Orosz's Polygamy, which premiered in December 2009.

    Bilbiotheque Pascal, the film which has won the main Prize of the Hungarian Film Week, had almost 18.000 admissions, proving the popularity of quality art films. Zsombor Dyga's Köntörfalak drew more than 14,000 admissions.

    The average number of tickets sales for a Hungarian film is 17,000, but most of this is due to Polygamy. Without that film the results are a very modest 7,000.