The heatwave is leading to a “significant” rise in cinema attendance in France, according to Éric Marti, managing director for France at Rentrak – a company specialising in cinema audience data analysis – speaking on France Inter on Friday 26 June.
“Visitor numbers were up by ‘70 per cent last Sunday, when the Fête de la Musique was taking place’ compared with Sunday 14 June,” he notes. “Generally speaking, the Fête de la Musique has an impact,” he explains, adding that visitor numbers usually fall by “15 to 20 per cent”, but on that particular day, “we really saw a surge” linked to the heatwave. “It’s continued since then; I’ve looked at yesterday’s and this morning’s figures, and we’re still up by 35% to 50% [compared with the previous week],” explains Éric Marti.
This trend began with the first spell of hot weather last week. It is a “fairly marked and rather rare” increase for this time of year in June, particularly since Saturday 20 June, with a “50 per cent” rise compared with Saturday 13 June, according to Éric Marti.
Since the start of 2026, “the momentum has been excellent”, emphasises Rentrak’s Managing Director for France. According to him, cinema attendance is directly linked to a “strong line-up of both French and foreign films”. 2025 marked “a pause in the recovery”, with “a drop of around fifteen million admissions”, adds Éric Marti.
An article written by franceinfo (Radio France), initially published on 26 June 2026, 08:01 (CEST)