Report: Russia tops Europe’s box office in Jan
March 7, 2023
Report: Russia tops Europe’s box office in Jan Russia emerged as the biggest box office earner in January among tracked markets in Europe, collecting $99 million out of the region’s total film earnings of $195.7 million, OpusData figures compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence show.
Europe’s box office dropped 1.9 per cent year over year in the first month of the year. There were 125 films released in January, against 166 titles in January 2022. The action and adventure genre was the preferred choice of cinemagoers in Europe, followed by drama and comedy.
Key highlights:
· Russia, Italy and Poland were the only three out of the 10 monitored markets that reported positive film revenue numbers. Russia, in particular, saw a 390.6 per cent surge in box office revenue year over year.
· In the first month of the year, the locally-produced animated children’s comedy film Cheburashka, distributed by Central Partnership ZAO, was the top film in Russia with $84.4 million in earnings.
· Spy action comedy title Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre came in second with $7.2 million. Lions Gate Entertainment bought the US distribution rights for the film, while Prime Video will distribute the film in the UK. Animated fantasy comedy film, The Amazing Maurice, distributed by Comcast.-owned Sky Cinema in the UK, booked $1.4 million as the third top film in Russia.
· The UK., the undisputed top earner in 2022, slipped to the second spot with cumulative gross box office revenue at $31.6 million, down 63.7 per cent year over year.
· Sci-fi horror flick M3GAN, distributed by Universal Pictures, topped Britain’s box office, garnering $7.4 million. Sony Pictures Releasing-distributed comedy-drama film A Man Called Otto, adapted from author Fredrik Backman’s novel, collected $5.4 million, followed by romantic drama Empire of Light, distributed by Searchlight Pictures, that earned $4.1 million. M3GAN was also the leading film across also box offices in Germany, Spain and the Netherlands, and occupied the second top spot in Poland and the third slot in Italy among the top three films.