The UGC movie theater Cité Les Halles in Paris is the world’s leading cinema in terms of admissions with more than 2.22 million spectators in 2022, according to data published by American-based global media measurement and analytics company Comscore. The UGC Les Halles has become the most frequented cinema in the world, ahead of the Burbank in Los Angeles and the Showcase Bluewater, located in southeast London.
Opened in 1995, the multiplex is located in the center of the capital, in the basement of the Chatelet-Les Halles shopping mall, where most of the Parisian RER and metro lines meet. It is the only one of the 2000 French cinemas to be open from 9am to midnight.
The success of the UGC Ciné Cité Les Halles demonstrates the relevance of the model used by UGC cinemas
Brigitte Maccioni, CEO UGC
The cinema has 27 screens, a record in Europe. Its programming, too, is unique. Most films remain on average longer than in other cinemas. According to French newspaper Le Figaro, the films “Bullet Train”, “November” and “Elvis”, for example, have remained in the theater for between 11 and 13 weeks.
“The public has found its way back to theaters and renews its confidence in this cinema located in the heart of Paris, which invented the ‘cine-club’ of mass by betting on a diversified program since 1995,” said Eric Marti, CEO of Comscore France, in a statement.
Brigitte Maccioni, CEO of UGC noted that Ciné Cité Les Halles promotes all types of cinema, from American blockbusters to art house films. “The diversity of films is the cornerstone of the UGC Group’s strategy,” Maccioni said. “It is this eclecticism, dear to the spectators, which makes France the first European market and the third worldwide market after the United States and China.”
In France, movie theaters are gradually regaining their audience. In 2022, cinema attendance reached 152 million admissions, an increase of 59.2% compared to 2021, a year marked by 138 days of cinema closure. The numbers are still 26.9% lower than in 2019, before the pandemic.
