Cinema has been among the sectors most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and the normalization period could not save the ill fate of the theater halls with a huge decrease in spectator numbers in Turkey this year. The current number of cinema-goers has been recorded as 8,814,927 in the last days of 2021, according to the information obtained by media monitoring company Ajans Press from Box Office.
In line with the Ajans Press data, the ticket sales were at 17,415,304 and 59,556,20 in 2019. It has been observed that the figure peaked in 2017 with the highest number of spectators of 71,188, 594. The number of cinema-goers did not decrease below 50,000,000 in the period from 2013 to 2019. The Ajans Press noted that there was a great decrease in the last two years.
The highest-grossing movie in Turkish theaters in 2021 was “F9: The Fast Saga,” internationally known as “Fats & Furious 9.” While the second movie was “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” “Akif” took third place.
Ajans Press also examined the number of articles about cinema in the press. According to the information compiled by Ajans Press from its digital press archive, the number of news about cinema in the press this year was 40,456. In the same period, the number of news articles related only to movie theaters was 2,024. While the news content included the closure of cinemas within the scope of COVID-19 measures and the postponement of the screening of some movies, the number of news increased by 27% with the normalization process.
