Commercial cinema exhibition in Portugal began 2024 with a 4.5% loss of audience compared to January 2023, for a total of 870,558 spectators, revealed the Cinema and Audiovisual Institute (ICA).
Cinema exhibition statistics for January also show a 9% drop in box office receipts compared to January 2023, totaling 5.2 million euros.
Of the total of 870,558 spectators who went to the cinema in January, 17,497 saw Portuguese or Portuguese-produced films, which resulted in around 91,484 euros in box office revenue.
According to ICA, among the Portuguese films premiered in theaters, the most watched was “A semente do mal”, director Gabriel Abrantes’ first foray into horror cinema, with 10,795 spectators.
The second most watched film was the documentary “Viagem ao sol”, by Susana de Sousa Dias and Ansgar Schaefer, with 1,675 viewers.
Cinemundo started 2024 leading the film distribution market, with 2.2 million euros in box office revenue, followed by NOS Lusomundo Audiovisuais with 1.3 million euros.
In January, and compared to the same month in 2023, Alambique was the distributor with the biggest increase in box office revenue (521%), going from 31,833 euros to 197,969 euros.
In terms of audiences, the number increased fivefold for Alembic, going from 6,558 to 34,708 spectators, and the increase was due to its investment in the distribution of Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” and “Perfect Days” and “Anselm – The Sound of Time”, both by Wim Wenders.
In exhibition, the market leader is NOS Lusomundo Cinemas and in January it collected more than half – 3.4 million euros – of the total gross box office revenue of 5.2 million euros.