Iranian cinema thrives in 2024

The Persian year 1403 (March 2024 – March 2025), which is coming to an end, has been a prosperous period for the country's film industry.

According to press statistics, cinema ticket sales reached 34 million, with total revenue amounting to 1902 billion rials (~$21 million).

This marks an increase of five million viewers and a rise of 700 billion rials (~$7.7 million) compared to the previous year.

However, adjustments in ticket pricing and the removal of half-price days in December significantly impacted the attendance.

Ticket prices were raised to 800,000 rials (~$0.88), leading to a drop in weekly sales from 500-600 billion rials (~$5.5-$6.5 million) to 200-300 billion rials (~$2.2-$3.3 million).

One notable trend was the success of non-comedy films.  

Among the top 20 highest-grossing movies, four non-comedies generated a total revenue of 194 billion rials (~$2.1 million).

Meanwhile, children’s films such as ‘Cat City 2’, ‘Sheepy, the Hero’, ‘Kianoush’s Garden’, and ‘The Gools’ collectively sold 2.9 million tickets, earning 126.5 billion rials (~$1.4 million).

Despite the positive trends, Iranian cinema is still far from its peak audience numbers of 1988 and 1991, when annual attendance reached 80-81 million.

Experts suggest that a greater variety of films and stable ticket prices contributed to last year's increase in viewers.