Lower admissions for local films in 2007

by Vitor Pinto

17/01/2008 - Last year was marked by a decrease in admissions in Spanish theatres, a trend that affected both local and international titles. Although official data has yet to be announced by the Ministry of Culture, provisional figures point to a possible drop of 19 million moviegoers (102 million in 2007 against 121 million in 2006), equivalent to a €70m decrease in box office compared to 2006.

Of the 1,620 films exhibited, 337 were local productions or co-productions and two horror films top the chart of the most successful domestic films. The Orphanage [trailer] – which will not compete for an Academy Award despite opening in the US to praise recently – was the most seen film of 2007 (over 3,300,000 admissions and €19,191,505 grossed), followed by Catalonian production REC [trailer, film focus] (780,665 admissions and nearly €4.5m grossed) and the drama The Thirteen Roses [trailer] (589,338 admissions, €4,458,656 grossed).

Some of the most anticipated local titles of the year – such as Mataharis and Chaotic Ana – did not even reach the top ten.

This negative trend is expected to be offset at the beginning of this year with the release of Alex de la Iglesia’s eagerly awaited English-language film The Oxford Murders [trailer, film focus], starring Elijah Wood, John Hurt and Leonor Watling.