Eu Films Cut Into U.s. Share

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

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

Four films that had European backing were in the top 20 in overall admissions in the EU for the year — U.K.-U.S. co-production "Bridget Jones's Diary" (No. 2 with 24.7 million admissions), French-German coproduction "Amelie" (No. 13, 13.2 million), Germany's "Der Schuh des Manitu" (Manitou's Shoe) (No. 14, 12.5 million) and Spain's "The Others" (No. 16, 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 in North America for principally European-backed films reached 4.5% in 2001, up from 3.6% the previous year but less than in 1999 (5.5%) and 1997 (5.4%).

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

Established in 1992, the Strasbourg, France-based EAO, a public service organization, collects information on the European audiovisual sector. It comprises 35 member states and the EU.