Iran cinema reaches 35 million admissions

Iran's cinema industry achieved an impressive milestone in the 1403 Persian Year, attracting nearly 35 million moviegoers.

According to reports from the Iranian Cinema News Agency, a total of 34,937,000 tickets were sold throughout the year, with box office earnings reaching $2.04 billion (1,987,345,000,000 rials).

Of this amount, $1.93 billion (1,891,000,000,000 rials) was attributed to films released during 1403, while $98.3 million (96,350,000,000 rials) came from Nowruz holiday screenings.

A total of 891,338 screenings were held over the past year, including 44,962 screenings dedicated to Nowruz 1404 releases.

For films released in 1403 (excluding the Nowruz holiday lineup in March), 33,713,000 people attended theaters, contributing $1.93 billion (1,891,000,000,000 rials) to the box office.

Meanwhile, 1,224,000 tickets were sold for eight Nowruz 1404 films, generating $98.3 million (96,350,000,000 rials) in revenue.

The highest-grossing film of the year was ‘Seventy Thirty’, which sold 5,747,000 tickets and earned $345 million (338,000,000,000 rials).

The third installment of ‘Texas’ ranked second, attracting 4,446,000 viewers and grossing $254 million (249,200,000,000 rials).

The comedy ‘Pressure Cooker’ followed closely with 4,073,000 admissions and total earnings of $234.7 million (230,000,000,000 rials).

Meanwhile, ‘Bloody Crocodile’ drew 2,421,000 moviegoers and earned $150 million (147,000,000,000 rials).

‘Breakfast with Giraffes’ rounded out the top five, selling 1,967,000 tickets and generating $123.5 million (121,000,000,000 rials).

Among the Nowruz 1404 releases, the top-performing film was the comedy ‘Dinosaur’, which recorded 558,000 admissions and a revenue of $46.3 million (45,383,000,000 rials).

Other notable Nowruz performers included ‘Prophet Moses’ (235,000 admissions) and ‘Cocktail Molotov’ (121,000 admissions), ranking as the second and third most-watched films of the holiday season.

Looking ahead to 1404, industry optimism is high. With an expanding cinema network and improved screening strategies, analysts predict annual attendance could surpass 40 million and total box office revenue might exceed $3 billion (3,000,000,000,000 rials).

If these projections hold, 1404 could break a 30-year record and mark a significant step toward industrializing Iran’s cinema sector.