Less people went to Quebec movie theatres in 2024

The return of moviegoers to Quebec movie theatres, which had been growing steadily since the pandemic, slowed in 2024.

Data published Tuesday by the Institut de la statistique du Québec’s Observatoire de la culture et des communications show that Quebec cinemas welcomed 13.5 million spectators last year, down seven per cent in 2023 (14.6 million).

This drop is in no way linked to the closure of Guzzo cinemas, since they closed in January and February 2025, which will probably add further downward pressure to the 2025 data, although some of these theaters have been reopened by new owners.

Still a long way from 2019

Despite previous years of increases, the figures were still a long way from the 2019 pre-pandemic benchmark year’s cinema admissions, down 28 per cent in fact, from 18.7 million five years earlier.

Preliminary data from a study unveiled last week at the annual convention of the Association québécoise de la production médiatique shows that 18 to 29-year-olds are the most frequent moviegoers.

In other Observatoire de la culture et des communications findings, the number of screenings continued to grow, topping 850,000, up three per cent in 2023, but still a long way from 2019’s 950,000.

Unprecedented results for Quebec cinema

The number of new theatrical releases rose by 11 per cent to 637, and Quebec cinema put in an excellent performance, capturing 15 per cent of market share. This encouraging growth is set to continue, with market share for Quebec films reaching eight per cent in 2019, nine per cent in 2022 and 12 per cent in 2023.

The 15 per cent in 2024 represents the best performance for Quebec cinema since the all-time high of 19 per cent in 2005.

The Quebec film Nos Belles-Sœurs came in seventh place in terms of total admissions in 2024. Two other Quebec films ranked among the 20 most-viewed at the cinema: Le cyclone de Noël (eighth place) and 1995 (ninth place). These three feature films accounted for 43 per cent of the total attendance for all Quebec films presented in 2024.

This performance explains why, in 2024, attendance at Quebec films rose by 15 per cent, to 2 million moviegoers, compared with 1.8 million in 2023. In absolute numbers, the 2 million people who went to see a Quebec film even represents a 36 per cent increase over the 1.5 million in the famous pre-pandemic reference year of 2019.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews