Czech movie theatres enjoyed a strong post-pandemic rebound in 2022
- Two US blockbusters battled it out for the number-one spot in the domestic top 10, while the highest-grossing local film was a foul-mouthed football satire
Czech cinema is clearly on a post-pandemic rebound. The year 2022 was pretty intense for the national audiovisual industry, as domestic films and projects travelled the world’s most prestigious events, garnering critical acclaim, while local producers continued building creative partnerships with their international colleagues. The Czech Union of Film Distributors has published the 2022 figures, revealing that the domestic theatrical industry successfully got back on its feet, nearly matching pre-pandemic numbers. In fact, it fell short by only 26% compared to the record-breaking year of 2019.
The number of screenings was up by 77.77% and the number of theatregoers rose by 88.97% compared to the previous year. The total of 512,701 screenings attracted 13.495 million viewers (more than 2020 and 2021 put together), which translated into a box-office haul of €88,458,500. Czech theatres managed to gross €104 million (see the news) in the record-breaking pre-pandemic year of 2019.
The domestic top 10 was dominated by imported US blockbusters (with a total share of 59%), with the exception of three domestic titles (racking up a total share of 36%). The battle for the top spot unfolded between two sequels, Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water. Curiously enough, the domestic audience pushed Top Gun into the leading spot (809,977 tickets sold), even though James Cameron’s sci-fi epic (763,477 tickets sold) managed to outgross Tom Cruise’s action flick with a total of €6,376,663 (Top Gun: Maverick grossed €6,164,928). However, Maverick turned out to be extremely tenacious, sitting in Czech cinemas for 32 weeks.
A Czech comedy about an unruly footballer, adapted from a popular webseries, Vyšehrad: Fylm (see the news), became the highest-grossing domestic film (€4,530,325), landing in the fourth spot, after Minions: The Rise of Gru. The foul-mouthed football satire was tailed by the domestic fairy tale The Old Blunderbuss Mystery 2 (€2,350,663). Expectations were highest for the most expensive Czech production to date, Medieval (see the news), and Petr Jákl’s historical epic rounded off the list of Czech films in the top 10, with €2,324,188 grossed. However, the movie did manage to keep up the momentum on Netflix.
In addition to this impressive performance in domestic dark rooms, the recent nominations for the Czech Lion and Czech Film Critics’ Awards paint a picture of diversity. The Czech Film and Television Academy’s nominations are led by the psychological biopic Arvéd (see the news), which has had limited festival exposure outside the country. Arvéd is also leading the nominations for the Czech Film Critics’ Awards, along with BANGER. [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Adam Sedlák
film profile] and the period biopic Il Boemo [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Petr Vaclav
film profile]. Both of the latter films landed several nominations apiece for the Czech Lion Awards as well. The list of popular Czech movies continues with the experimental operatic documentary Kapr Code [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lucie Králová
film profile], the social drama Victim [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michal Blaško
film profile], Nightsiren [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tereza Nvotová
film profile] (which combines drama with genre cinema), the documentary Good Old Czechs, the female-led portmanteau film Ordinary Failures [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Cristina Grosan
film profile], Beata Parkanová’s The Word [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Beata Parkanová
film profile] and the lo-fi drama And Then There Was Love… [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Šimon Holý
film profile], among many others.
Productions by Czech students were also in great shape, with pupils’ work having toured international events and festivals, including the Berlinale, Locarno and Annecy. Over 100 student works screened in 40 countries, garnering more than 300 nominations. Most of the films screened came from Prague’s FAMU.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
