Movie theatres across the country closed gradually until 18 March, due to restrictive measures to contain the pandemic, and this was reflected in an abrupt drop in both the number of spectators and in box office revenues.
According to the ICA, in March there were 254,673 spectators on the cinema exhibition network, that is, 76.6 percent less than in March 2019, when more than one million entries were registered.
In box office revenue, €1.3 million were recorded in March this year, almost five times less than in March 2019, when €5.8 million were recorded.
Analysing the quarter, the ICA reports that, between January and March this year, movie theatres totalled 2.5 million viewers (18.7 percent less than in the same period in 2019), and €13.7 million in gross box office revenue (17.4 percent less than in the same quarter of the previous year).
The most watched film in the quarter, which premiered in January, was “1917”, by Sam Mendes, with 328,000 viewers.
The most watched Portuguese film, which also hit theatres in January, was “The film by Bruno Aleixo”, by Pedro Santo and João Moreira, with around 23,900 spectators.