A total of 66 movie titles were released in Iranian theaters during the period and 24.14 million people went to the movies, according to data published in www.panel.cinemashahr.ir–the official Iranian cinema box office website providing detailed information on cinema earnings to the public. The outlet became operational on Feb. 25, 2019, Financial Tribune reported.

The number of moviegoers witnessed a year-on-year decrease of 3.15% during the period.

The average cinema ticket prices stood at 114,385 rials ($0.85), noticeably up by 26,799 rials ($0.2) or 30.6% year-on-year.

The above figures indicate that the rise in box office earnings stems from the increase in ticket prices and not in the number of moviegoers.

More than half of the box office earnings came from only six movie titles, namely the comedy “Motreb” directed by Mostafa Kiaei with 343.57 billion rials ($2.55 million), "6.5 Per Meter" directed by Saeed Roustayi with 271.98 billion rials ($2.02 million), "Texas 2" directed by Masoud Atyabi with 250.88 billion rials ($1.86 million), "Rahman 1400" directed by Manouchehr Hadi with 218.91 billion rials ($1.62 million), “When the Moon Became Full” directed by Narges Abyar with 190.12 billion rials ($1.41 million) and “The Warden” directed by Nima Javidi with 149.81 billion rials ($1.11 million). The six titles earned a combined 1.42 trillion rials ($10.59 million).

Box office earnings during the first Iranian month Farvardin (March 21-April 20) stood at 573.57 billion rials ($4.26 million), registering an increase of 34.74% compared with last year’s similar month.

The earnings amounted to 266.81 billion rials ($1.98 million) during the second Iranian month (April 21-May 21), indicating a decrease of 1.82% year-on-year and a fall of 53.5% month-on-month.

Sales during the third Iranian month (May 22-June 21) stood at 295.93 billion rials ($2.2 million), up by 134.5% YOY and 10.91% MOM.

As for the fourth Iranian month (June 22-July 22), the earnings rose by 36.27% YOY and declined by 0.31% MOM to reach 295.01 billion rials ($2.19 million).

The earnings witnessed noticeable declines in the fifth Iranian month (July 23-Aug. 22) both from YOY and MOM perspectives, as Iranian cinemas earned 239.5 billion rials ($1.78 million) during the month to register a 14.95% and 18.81% decline YOY and MOM respectively.

The downward trend continued during the sixth Iranian month (Aug. 23-Sept. 22), as box office earnings amounted to 115.95 billion rials ($862,137) during the month, indicating a 9.26% and 51.58% dip YOY and MOM respectively.

Sales during the seventh month (June 22-Oct. 22) stood at 139.2 billion rials ($1.03 million), down by 32.95% YOY and up by 20.05% MOM.

During the eighth Iranian month (Oct. 22-Nov. 21), earnings rose by 57.14% YOY and 75% MOM to reach 243.6 billion rials ($1.81 million).

Ticket sales in the ninth Iranian month (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) saw noticeable growth both YOY and MOM by 88% and 41.15% respectively, amounting to 343.84 billion rials ($2.55 million).

Box office earnings totaled 247.78 billion ($1.84 million) in the 10th Iranian month (Dec. 21-Jan. 20) to register a 31.75% rise YOY and a downturn of 27.94% MOM.

Iranian box offices earned close to 2.4 trillion rials ($17.84 million) during the last Iranian year (ended March 20, 2019), to register an increase of 25% compared with earnings in the year before. 

As per the report of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, 79 movies were released in theaters last year.

The movie "Centipede" directed by Abolhassan Davoodi was the highest grossing movie of the year by earning 370 billion rials ($2.75 million) and attracting 4.21 million viewers. In fact, the title is the all-time highest-grossing film of the Iranian cinema.

Iranian cinemas attracted more than 28 million people last year, which shows more than a 22% increase compared to the year before.

Each Iranian goes to the movies 0.3 times per year on average, according to a report by our sister publication Donya-e-Eqtesad.