01/04/2008

According to annual statistics released by ProCinema, the Swiss association for film exhibitors and distributors, Switzerland saw a 15.8% decline in audience figures in 2007 and the market share for domestic films fell to 5.38%.

After an exceptional score in 2006 (9.62%), this result is nonetheless a respectable one considering the fact that market shares for Swiss films have for some time fluctuated between 2 and 3%.

The fact remains, however, that the number of admissions sold (762,929 compared to 1,621,768 the previous year) has declined due to people’s waning appetite for cinema. On the other hand, the market share for European films remains stable at 28.6% (28.21% in 2006).

While Ratatouille, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix top the box office, four Swiss features are among the 100 best-performing films: Bettina Oberli’s Late Bloomers [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (219,996 admissions), which has now exceeded the 600,000 admissions threshold to become the biggest Swiss hit in 30 years; Fredi M. Murer’s Vitus [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Davi
interview: Fredi M. Murer
film profile] (71,007 viewers in 2007 and 268,681 to date); and Mike Eschmann’s Breakout [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (65,284) and Tell (55,469).

It should also be noted that the US majors Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Universal Pictures International, Warner Bros. (Transatlantic) Inc. and Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation represent 69.13% of admissions, while 39 other distributors account for the remaining 30.87%.

(Translated from French)