A great year for Czech cinemas

by Martin Kudláč

27/02/2017 - The Czech fairy tale Angel of the Lord 2 became the highest-grossing domestic title last year, setting a new record

Angel of the Lord 2 by Jiří Strach

Czech movie theatres have reported a successful year. In 2016, the number of admissions swelled by 20.6% compared to the previous year, and the cinemas welcomed a record number of 15.6 million viewers. The total takings climbed by 20.48%, to approximately €74 million, earned by a total number of 471,202 screenings (including 345 premieres, and 79 premieres of domestic titles), a 3.03% rise over 2015. Almost one-third of the admissions were for domestic productions.

The number-one spot in the top ten of the most-seen films of 2016 was bagged by a domestic title, Jiří Strach's Angel of the Lord 2 [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the sequel to the Christmas fairy tale An Angel of the Lord, which was seen by 913,000 cinemagoers and grossed over €4.7 million, thus trouncing the previous highest-grossing domestic title, Empties [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Jan Svěrák, from 2007. The Devil’s Mistress [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a drama inspired by the life of Czech actress Lída Baarová, who was also one of Joseph Goebbels’ lovers, occupies the fourth position, having lured in 414,000 viewers, despite negative reactions by the film critics. Tiger Theory [+see also:
trailer
film profile], a comedy about a sexagenarian attempting to find a new spark in his life, took seventh place, followed by the romantic comedy Stuck with a Perfect Woman. An animated film for children, The Odd-Sock Eaters (read the news), ended up in 11^th place.