Overall, 2013 was not a good year for cinema in France. Despite the country’s great love affair with film, box-office sales hit a startling low, dipping 5.3 percent on the previous year, reports FRANCE 24.
With apparently fewer and fewer people going to the movies, only 192.8 million tickets were bought in 2013, making it the first time in four years that sales have fallen below 200 million.
“It’s below the average for the past 10 years, which is 195 million,” Benoît Danard, director of research, statistics and trends at France’s National Cinema Centre, told the AFP news agency.
While there are myriad reasons that could explain the decline in box-office sales, such as the growing popularity of online streaming, Danard blamed poor attendance on a lack of hit films.
“We’re clearly missing smash hits,” Danard explained.
Read more of this report from FRANCE 24.