French Cinemas Thrive in First Half of 2026, Balancing Homegrown Hits and Hollywood Blockbusters

France’s theatrical market posted an estimated €680 million (? $776 million) in box-office revenue during the first six months of 2026, driven by nearly 92 million admissions—a 19.7 % year-on-year rise. Admissions were split between French productions (42.5 %) and U.S. titles (47.5 %). Around 20 films surpassed the 1 million-admission mark, including eight French releases. The final week of the half-year saw more than 5 million tickets sold, and the annual Fête du Cinéma contributed roughly 3.7 million discounted admissions.

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The family adventure “Marsupilami” (Pathé) topped the six-month chart with over 6.1 million admissions. Other French top-ten entries were Studiocanal’s “Guru”, “Children of the Resistance”, Gaumont’s “Just an Illusion”, and Pathé’s two-part historical epic “De Gaulle” series. U.S. successes included Universal’s “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and “Michael”, plus Disney’s “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” “Toy Story 5,” and “Hoppers.” Independent distributor Le Pacte’s horror breakout “Obsession” reached about 1.4 million admissions since its May 13 release, while Metropolitan FilmExport’s “Backrooms” logged roughly 1.1 million admissions after debuting on June 17.

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Admissions dipped briefly in mid-March and early June, each slump lasting only a short period before rebounding. The rapid recovery underscores the market’s sensitivity to programming availability. The two-part “De Gaulle” saga illustrates this effect: the first installment opened with ~385 000 admissions, fell in week 2, then rose 17 % in week 3 and 71 % in week 4, reaching ~465 000 admissions—21 % above its opening week. The sequel, released three weeks later, benefited from the momentum, keeping both films in the top five and pushing the first part past 1.7 million admissions, on track for 2 million.

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France’s performance slightly outpaced Italy, where Checco Zalone’s “Buen Camino” led the market, and surpassed the United Kingdom’s box-office totals. It remained behind Germany and Spain, the latter buoyed by Santiago Segura’s satire “Torrente for President.”

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• “That means there have been many successes, rather than just three or four isolated hits,” — Eric Marti, Comscore France managing director

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• “there is a very healthy balance between successful French films and successful American films.” — Eric Marti, Comscore France managing director

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• “gone well beyond all the usual boundaries of the genre.” — Eric Marti, Comscore France managing director (referring to “Obsession”)

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• “This capacity to rebound is extremely encouraging, because it shows at that as soon as the programming is there, audiences go to cinemas,” — Eric Marti, Comscore France managing director

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