French Production Reached Near Record in 2024, While Streamers’ Financing Skyrocketed by 60%

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2024 saw French film production hit another historic high, with a total of 309 films being created, as revealed in the annual report presented by the National Film Board on Tuesday.

2024 marked a near equivalence in production output compared to 2021, when delayed filmings accumulated post-pandemic. Remarkably, there was an upsurge in the number of co-productions in 2024, reaching 130 international films co-produced with France – the third highest since 1952 as reported by the CNC. Notably, France’s key partners for these co-productions were Belgium (with 30 films) and Germany (with eight).

Investments in films surged to €1.44 billion ($1.57 billion), marking a substantial increase of 21.3% compared to before the pandemic. This growth was significantly fueled by global streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney, which collectively increased their investments by 16%, totaling $301 million. Additionally, domestic investments in French films reached an impressive €1.17 billion, the second highest level recorded over the past decade.

2024 witnessed a surge in production of high-budget films, with as many as eight French films being made for budgets exceeding 20 million euros each. Typically, a French film costs around $4.5 million to produce, but the number of such productions has more than doubled compared to the previous three years, from 2017 to 2019, where only an average of four movies of this scale were produced before the pandemic.

Pathé and Studiocanal, both affiliated with the European media giant Mediawan, have significantly contributed to this positive trajectory with their respective productions – “The Count of Monte Cristo,” an epic adventure, and “Beating Hearts,” a crime-romance tale.

Among the eight blockbuster films I recently watched, a third were animated masterpieces. One of these was “Asterix: The Kingdom of Nubia,” another was “Urban Jungle,” and lastly, the much-anticipated “High in the Clouds” by Paul McCartney, brought to life by Gaumont for Netflix.

2024 saw a significant surge of $83.7 million from streamers towards the pre-production of French movies, representing a 59% year-on-year increase. Netflix led this trend, backing or co-backing 27 films, with Disney+ close behind at 10, followed by Amazon Prime Video with six and Max with two. The report emphasizes that streamers primarily invested in high-budget films according to French standards, with an average investment of around $10 million per film.

The increase in investment by streaming services is directly linked to France’s recent regulations, based on an EU directive, which compel them to invest a portion of their domestic earnings towards French cinema productions for both theaters and television. The amount they invest determines their access to these films post-cinema release. For example, Disney+ recently pledged to acquire or pre-purchase at least 70 movies over the next three years, which granted them access to newly released films nine months after their theater premiere – a significant upgrade from their previous wait of 17 months.

Meanwhile, Canal+, a prominent pay TV group, gains access to movies six months after their theatrical premiere because it’s the chief funder of French cinema. Last year, it allocated approximately 180 million euros towards local films, with France Televisions following closely behind at around $66 million in investment.

Canal+ has entered into a deal with local movie unions, promising to inject no less than €480 million (approximately $526 million USD) into French and European motion pictures over the coming three years.

As a passionate movie enthusiast, I’ve noticed that once again, the number of films directed by women has decreased for the second year in a row in France. In 2023, just 27% of French movies were helmed by female directors compared to 33.2% in 2022. This decline might be due to the cyclical nature of filmmaking and production. Interestingly, though, documentaries have seen a rise with 35.7% of them being directed by women. However, it’s disheartening to note that female directors still struggle to secure large budgets. In fact, only two French movies produced on a budget exceeding $11 million were directed by women: Julia Ducournau’s “Alpha,” the sequel to her Palme d’Or-winning film “Titane,” and “Natacha,” a comedy based on the comic strip of the same name, directed by Noemie Saglio.

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2025-04-08 22:46