Portuguese cinemas recorded over one million spectators in May, representing a 56.6% increase on the same period in 2022 and the best month of 2023 for national cinemas, the ICA revealed today.
According to monthly data from the Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual (ICA), published today, Portuguese cinemas welcomed 1.094 million spectators in May, a figure not reached since December 2022.
In 2022, the million spectator mark was exceeded in July, August and December.
In terms of revenue, May was also the best month of 2023, with 6.4 million euros, bringing the year’s total to 26.3 million euros, up 46.7% on the 17.9 million euros achieved in the first five months of 2022.
This year’s May figures were driven by the premiere of Louis Leterrier’s “Furious Speed X”, which drew 442,726 viewers in its 13-day run, followed by James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”, the most-watched film of the month, with 208,392 admissions.
Further down the list, we find Rob Marshall’s new version of “The Little Mermaid” with 93,000 viewers and “Super Mario Bros: The Movie” by Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic and Pierre Leduc with 82,000. The Ukrainian film “Mavka: The Soul of the Forest” by Oleh Malamuzh and Oleksandra Ruban, with 32,000 viewers, closed May’s “top 5”.
The list of most-viewed Portuguese films of the year includes two May premieres: “Mal Viver” and “Viver Mal”, by João Canijo, in third and fourth place respectively, with 11,225 and 7,092 viewers.
The most-watched national film of 2023 was Vicente Alves do Ó’s “Amadeo”, with 12,758 admissions, followed by João Gonzalez’s Oscar-nominated “Ice Merchants”, which was seen by 11,544 people.
