While the Cannes festival opened its doors a few days ago, attendance at cinemas is declining. In 2025, the national center for cinema and animated images (CNC) recorded 156.2 million admissions, a drop of 14% in one year. This is the “lowest level since 1999”, according to the CNC. But what about in Lorraine? Here are four things to remember.
Lorraine counts today 59 cinemas for 212 screens. If we relate these figures to the population, these facilities reveal strong geographical disparities. The Meuse appears to be the least well endowed department in the regionwith only 8.9 screens per 100,000 inhabitants. As a result of this low density, “the number of entries is very low in certain rural departments,” reports the CNC. In the other Lorraine departments, there are between 9.1 and 9.2 screens per 100,000 inhabitants.
At the national level, the public is slightly more female: 53% of spectators and 56% of entries. Another observation from the CNC is that “cinematographic practice remains more widespread within higher socio-professional categories: 73.1% of them went to the cinema at least once in 2025, compared to 62.4% for lower socio-professional categories†.
The year 2024 was exceptional for French cinema, with three French films at the box office. A little something extra recorded 10.72 million entries, while Le Comte de Monte Cristo reached 9.39 million entries. phew love was also one of the big hits that same year, with 4.83 million admissions. In the Vosges, French films account for 51.4% of admissions. A proportion higher than the Meuse (49.8%), Meurthe-et-Moselle (45.2%) and Moselle (37.2%).
As for American films, some remain historic records in France. Titanic by James Cameron still dominates the ranking with 22.32 million entries. He also directed Avatar, which ranks 6th among the biggest hits in France since 1945 (15.35 million). In Lorraine, it is in Moselle that we have the highest share of American films The new entrants will be registered in 2024 (43.2%).
Finally, other nationalities have also left their mark on the French public. We can cite a great classic of the spaghetti western, Once upon a time in the West by Sergio Leone in 1969. The film achieved a total of 14.91 million admissions in France. In Lorraine, European cinema (excluding France) accounts for between 14% and 17% of admissions.
In Lorraine, recommended Arthouse films account for up to 23.2% of admissions in Meurthe-et-Moselleahead of Vosges (17.7%), the Meuse (14.6%) and the Moselle (13.9%). The audience for these films is mainly made up of spectators aged 50 and over (50.4%), across France. Higher socio-professional categories are also over-represented (32.8%).
