France’s box office lost momentum in September following a record-breaking summer, with admissions falling 7.3% year-on-year according to estimates from the CNC. The total equates to an estimated €65.7 million in box office revenue based on an average ticket price of €7.40.
The month marked the first year-on-year decline of 2026, ending a steady eight-month run of growth. The 8.88 million admissions were down from 9.57 million in September 2025 and 10.1 million in 2024, and slightly below the 8.95 million recorded in 2023.
Admissions also fell below the pre-pandemic September average of 11.1 million for the first time since April, as a lack of major new releases weighed on the first half of the month.
The reliance on summer holdovers was particularly pronounced during the first half of September. Spider-Man: Brand New Day (Sony), released on July 29, led the month with around 651,000 admissions, taking its cumulative total to 8.4 million. SND’s French culture-clash comedy God Bless This Mess, released on August 12, followed with around 632,000 admissions, for 2.2 million overall. Universal’s The Odyssey, released on July 15, continued its epic box office run with around 595,000 admissions during the month, taking its cumulative total to just over 8 million.
New releases gained traction later in the month. Resident Evil (Metropolitan Filmexport), which opened on September 16, recorded around 622,000 admissions, while Paramount’s Heart Of The Beast, starring Brad Pitt, released on September 23, rounded out the top five with around 503,000.
French titles also made their mark, including three Cannes titles from female directors: Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s competition title A Woman’s Life (Pyramide) opened with around 331,000 admissions; while Jeanne Herry’s competition entry Garance (Studiocanal) drew around 215,000, and Géraldine Nakache’s Cannes Première film Think Good around 154,000.
Other Cannes Competition titles faring well included Cristian Mungiu’s Palme d’Or winner Fjord (Le Pacte), released on August 19, which drew around 279,000 admissions during September for a cumulative 588,000, and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s All Of A Sudden (Diaphana Distribution), released on August 12, which added around 138,000 for a total of 378,000.
Both are heading into the international Oscar race, representing Romania and Japan respectively. France’s own entry, Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Cannes Grand Prix winner Minotaur, will be released by Les Films du Losange on October 14.
Pathé’s De Gaulle films drew around 507,000 cinemagoers in September, pushing the two-part historical saga to nearly 6 million admissions overall. Another wartime title, Studiocanal’s D-Day drama Pressure, recorded around 224,000 admissions.
In event cinema, Pathé Live’s Artus – Le Show XXL au cinéma, a filmed version of French comedian and actor Artus’s live show at Paris La Défense Arena, proved a one-night draw, selling around 75,000 tickets from a single nationwide screening on September 24. The event was released under an exceptional theatrical visa rather than through a conventional run.
October is traditionally boosted by France’s two-week Toussaint (All Saints’) school holiday. Potential draws include Aaron Sorkin’s The Social Reckoning, Street Fighter and Clayface, alongside homegrown releases including Fred Cavayé’s star-powered literary adaptation Les Misérables, and Guillaume Canet’s Karma starring Marion Cotillard.
The month also brings a strong crop of festival titles, including Marine Atlan’s La Gradiva (Tandem), László Nemes’ Moulin (Studio TF1), Louis Clichy’s Iron Boy (KMBO) and Na Hong-jin’s Hope (Universal ), while family films including DreamWorks animation Forgotten Island (Universal) and Klara And The Sun (Sony) could benefit from the school-holiday period.
Summer records
September’s decline follows a particularly strong spring and summer for French cinemas. Admissions rose 34.7% year-on-year in April, 34.6% in May, 22.6% in July and 100.2% in August.
The slowdown followed a record August, with September admissions down 55% from the previous month’s 19.94 million — equivalent to approximately €147.6m — which was double the August 2025 total. July was also strong, with 17.53 million admissions, up 22.6% year-on-year.
The September dip has done little to dent an otherwise strong year for France’s box office. Cinemas recorded 136.8 million admissions over the first nine months of 2026, equivalent to an estimated €1.01bn in box office revenue, up 25.3% from 109.14 million admissions during the same period in 2025 and 7% ahead of 2024.
The total remains the strongest post-pandemic performance for the first nine months of the year, ahead of 133.87 million admissions in 2023 and 127.83 million in 2024, although still below the 148 million average recorded over the same period in 2017-2019. The rolling 12-month total stood at 183.81 million admissions at the end of September, up 12.8% year-on-year.
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