BRUSSELS — European cinemas sold more tickets in the first half of October than in any comparable period since 2019, according to preliminary figures released on Tuesday by the International Union of Cinemas, the Brussels-based trade group, and the surprise is what people were watching.
Admissions across 20 European markets rose 14 percent compared with the same two weeks last year, to about 61 million. In France, the largest market, the increase was 19 percent; in Germany, 12 percent; in Spain, 22 percent. Of the 10 highest-grossing films across the continent during the period, six were European productions, the highest share the union has recorded for an October.
“For years the story was that cinemas live or die on three American franchises a year,” said Klaus Reinholt, the union’s director of research. “What we are seeing is a recovery built on a wider base: French comedies, German family films, a Spanish horror film that has done 2.8 million admissions in three weeks. The American films are still important. They are no longer the whole story.”
The strongest performer was a French comedy about a provincial mayor, which has sold 4.1 million tickets in France and been released in 11 other countries. A German animated film about a hedgehog has crossed 2 million admissions in Germany and Austria. In Italy, a documentary about a Naples football club, released in only 190 cinemas, has become the country’s highest-grossing documentary in a decade.
The union attributes the shift partly to pricing. Cinema chains in several countries have introduced discounted weekday tickets and subscription schemes, and the average European ticket price, adjusted for inflation, has fallen about 4 percent since 2023. “People will come back if you make it easy,” Mr. Reinholt said. “They will not come back for 15 euros to see something they can watch at home in 45 days.”
The data also reflect a change in release strategy by European distributors, who have increasingly avoided dates occupied by large American releases and have concentrated their marketing on short, intense campaigns. “We used to release into the gaps,” said Isabelle Fournier, head of distribution at a Paris-based company that released the mayoral comedy. “Now we release where we want and let the American films find the gaps.”
Analysts cautioned that two weeks do not make a recovery. European admissions for the full year are still forecast to come in about 12 percent below 2019, and the industry remains exposed to the shrinking window between cinema and streaming release. But Mr. Reinholt said the October figures suggested a floor had been found. “Four years ago we were asking whether cinemas had a future,” he said. “Now we are asking which films. That is a much better question.”
A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 12, 2026, Section A, Page 13 of the European edition with the headline: European Cinemas Post Their Best October in Seven Years, and Credit Local Films.
