France, Dec. 31 -- Nearly 157 million tickets were sold in French cinemas this year, according to figures released on Wednesday by the National Centre for Cinema and Moving Images (CNC) - well below the 181 million tickets sold last year.

"It's a mixed year for cinema, with a declining market, due to the lack of enough crowd-pleasers and surprise hits like those in 2024," Gaetan Bruel, president of the CNC, said.

The organisation attributes this in part to a lack of French blockbusters, unlike in 2024 which boasted two films with 10 million tickets sold: Le Compte de Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo) and Un p'tit truc en plus (Something Extra).

It also pointed to American films that underperformed, such as Tom Cruise's long awai...