42.5 million admissions and €272 million in revenue in 2025: good figures for French cinema around the world

Thanks to Flow, winner of the Oscar for Best Animation last March, but also thanks to Luc Besson’s Dracula and the success of Emilia Pérez in South America.

If attendance in cinemas in France has not always been good, last year, French cinema is doing well outside its borders.

According to estimates published by Unifrance on the occasion of Export Day at the CNC, French production generated 42.5 million admissions in foreign cinemas in 2025, representing a total estimated at €272 million in global revenue. Solid figures, a direct continuation of 2023, which reflect an increase of 6% in the number of spectators in one year, in line with the dynamics of the global market which had a positive 2025 financial year. Unifrance thus confirms the resilience of French cinema on foreign markets, in a context of increased competition.

This performance is based on several identified locomotives. As for majority French films, Dracula by Luc Besson comes first with 3.7 million admissions and €22.3 million in revenue in 41 countries. He is followed by Falcon Express by Jean-Christian Tassy and Denoît Daffis (2.3 million admissions and €11.6 million, 43 countries), then Emilia Pérez by Jacques Audiard (1.6 million admissions and €9.9 million in 50 countries).

But it is on the side of French minority co-productions that the influence is most spectacular. Flow, the cat who was no longer afraid of water by Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis largely dominates with 7.8 million admissions and €39.3 million in revenue in 59 territories, ahead of I’m still here the Brazilian Walter Salles (2.3 million, €18.9 million) and Sentimental value by Joachim Trier (800,000 admissions, €7.4 million).

Geographically, Latin America stands out as the second largest region in the world for French cinema, behind Western Europe, with 8.8 million spectators, or 23.1% of foreign admissions – a regional record. Mexico – certainly thanks to Emilia Pérez – asserts itself as the leading territory in terms of number of entries, within a Top 10 which accounts for almost two thirds of the total.

Another key driver: animation, which totaled more than 13 million admissions, its third best historical total, and reached a record market share of 34.3%.

Comedy and drama remain the pillars of the offer, even if the first struggles more to establish itself in exports, unlike the second, closer to its historical standards.

Finally, if France cedes its first place in major international festivals to the United States in 2025, its presence remains structural, with 24.1% of selections and more than 20% of films programmed, while 3,000 French works have benefited from at least one release on foreign platforms. So many indicators which confirm a reality: in theaters and beyond, French cinema continues to weigh on the global landscape.