Hit by last year’s Hollywood’s strikes, total box office in 2024 in Spain dipped 2% compared to 2023, breaking three consecutive years of recovery over 2021-23, Comscore Movies Spain announced Monday. At 71 million admissions, attendance edged down 5% compared to last year.
At €477 million ($496.1 million), total box office in Spain was 29% below a pre-COVID 19 average over 2017-19, but still 21% up on a post-pandemic average over 2021-23 as Spain and box office at large around the world continues its halting rebound from 2020.
That said, some 2024 results in Spain were heartening.
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While first half admissions were 13% down on same period last year, the second half regained momentum against the same period in 2023, auguring well for 2025, observed David Rodríguez, Comscore Movies general manager for Spain and Portugal.
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“Inside Out 2” grossed a spectacular €45.5 million ($47.3 million), the second best result for any movie in Spain since “Spanish Affair” in 2014 (€56 million: $58 million), just bested by “Avatar: The Way of Water” in 2020 (€51 million: $53 million), Rodríguez told Variety.
Overall, animated features accounted for five of Spain’s top 10 features in 2024. Family audiences were the first to recover post-pandemic and are holding in a fantastic way,” said Rodríguez.
Of Spanish movies, “Father There is Only One 4,” co-written, directed and starring Santiago Segura, delivered €13.4 million ($13.9 million).
This marks the fifth time in six years that a movie from Segura has proved the highest-grossing Spanish film in Spain, his hapless father figure in the “Father” franchise coming to define one modern comedy strain in Spain just as occurred with the blow-hard Torrente two decades ago.
Though just outside the Top 10, romantic movies put in useful performances, “It Ends With Us” posting €8.7 million ($9.1 million) and romcom “Any One But You” punching €6.3 million ($6.5 million). Both attract female audiences,” Rodriguez noted. That is also one reason for the success of Spain’s biggest breakout of the year, “Undercover,” inspired by the real-life 20-year-old female police officer who successfully infiltrated terrorist org ETA.
Box offices of €3.3 million ($3.4 million) for “El 47” and €3.1 million for ($3.2 million) for “A House on Fire” point to an emerging audience in Spain for quality commercial films made for adult audiences, a phenomenon bolstered by cut-price cinema tickets for seniors on Tuesdays in Spain, Rodríguez observed.
Swelled by its breakouts, Spanish films’ market share climbed two percentage points to 19%, compared to 17% in 2023 and 22% in 2022, when Hollywood releases were still limited, post-COVID.
Walt Disney proved Spain’s biggest distributor in 2024. Headed by María Luisa Gutiérrez and Segura, and behind “Father,” “Undercover” and “Uncle Trouble,” Bowfinger Intl. Pictures was by a large head the biggest independent producer in Spain; Beta Fiction Spain its No. 1 Independent Distributor with a 3.3% market share, and Atresmedia Cine backed five of the Top 10 highest-grossing Spanish movies of 2024.
Spain Top 10 Highest-Grossing Films, 2024
1. “Inside Out 2,” Walt Disney, June 19, €45.53 million ($47.35 million)
2. “Deadpool & Wolverine,” Walt Disney, July 25, €23.98 million ($24.93 million)
3. “Despicable Me 4,” Universal, July 3, €20.74 million ($21.56 million)
4. “Gladiator II,” Paramount Int’l, Nov. 15, €19.59 million ($20.37 million)
5. “Moana 2,” Walt Disney, Nov. 29, €17.04 million ($17.72 million)
6. “Dune: Part Two,” Warner Bros, March 1, €13.89 million ($14.44 million)
7. “Father There Is Only One 4,” Sony, July 17, €13.44 million ($13.97 million)
8. “The Wild Robot,” Universal, Oct. 11, €10.37 million ($10.78 million)
9. “Kung Fu Panda 4,” Universal, March 8, €9.80 million ($10.19 million)
10. “It Ends With Us,” Sony, Aug. 9, €8.69 million ($9.03 million)
Spain’s Top 10 Highest-Grossing Spanish Films, 2024
1. “Father There Is Only One 4,” Sony, July 17, €13.44 million ($13.97 million)
2. “Undercover,” Beta Fiction, Oct. 11, €8.10 ($8.42 million)
3. “Buffalo Kids,” Warner Bros, Aug. 14, €5.22 ($5.42 million)
4. “I Hate Summer,” Sony, Aug. 23, €5.21 ($5.41 million)
5. “Uncle Trouble,” Beta Fiction, March 22, €4.06 ($4.22 million)
6. “A Moroccan Affair,” Universal, Dec. 1, €3.92 ($4.07 million)
7. “The 47,” A Contracorriente, Sep. 6, €3.25 ($3.38 million)
8. “A House on Fire,” Vercine, June 28, €3.06 ($3.18 million)
9. “Checkmates,” Paramount Int’l, April 12, €2.54 ($2.64 million)
10. “The Room Next Door,” Warner Bros, Oct. 18, €2.42 ($2.51 million)
