U.s. Film Admits Down In Europe For '01

A strong showing by European films in the European Union pushed the market share of U.S. films down to 66% in the EU in 2001, according to figures released by the European Audiovisual Observatory.

Down from 73.7% in 2000, last year was the poorest showing for American films since 1997, when the share was 65.8%.

Four films with European backing were in the top 20 in overall admissions in the EU for the year — "Bridget Jones's Diary" (No. 2 with 24.7 million admissions), "Amelie" (No. 13 with 13.2 million), "Der Schuh des Manitu" (Manitou's Shoe) (No. 14 with 12.5 million) and "The Others" (No. 16 with 10.3 million).

The top-performing film in the EU in 2001 was "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (U.S.) with 39.3 million admissions, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" (U.S.-New Zealand) was No. 3 with 20.2 million, "Shrek" (U.S.) was No. 4 with 20 million, and "What Women Want" (U.S.) was at No. 5 with 19.8 million.

The market share for principally European-backed films in North America reached 4.5% in 2001, up from 3.6% the previous year but less than 1999 (5.5%) and 1997 (5.4%).

"The Others" (Spain) was the No. 1 European film in North America with 17.9 million tickets sold, "Bridget Jones's Diary" (U.K.-U.S.) was No. 2 with 13.3 million, and "Chocolat" (U.K.-U.S.) was third with 12.5 million.