Hungarian cinemas’ ticket sales dropped by 72 percent last year

Hungarian cinemas’ ticket sales dropped by 72 percent to 4.3 million last year as pandemic restrictions weighed, data compiled by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) show. Almost 2.2 million of total ticket sales were at cinemas in the capital. Box office revenue declined by 71 percent to 6.4 billion forints (EUR 18.5m).

Cinemas showed 208 new films last year, 130 fewer than in 2019 due to the pandemic, and the lowest number since 2014, KSH said.

Hollywood films were the most popular in Hungary last year.

Bad Boys for Life, the third instalment in the Bad Boys franchise, drew the most cinema-goers, taking in 337,100 box office receipts. Runner-up was Guy Ritchie’s action comedy The Gentlemen, which drew 206,600 to screenings. Christopher Nolan’s Sci-Fi action thriller Tenet was in third place, selling 183,500 tickets.

The most popular Hungarian film in cinemas last year was Pesti balhe (Budapest Heist), with 71,600 ticket sales.

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