Although the local market is one of the least developed in the region (or perhaps because of this), it has registered constant annual growth rates, and specialists in the field expect 33-33 percent annual growth in 2009 on a market whose value is estimated at €16 million.
In terms of the number of spectators going to the cinema, this is now rising at a faster pace than in Western countries. This is due to the opening of new movie theatres in Bucharest and outside, something that is no longer happening in developed countries, where markets reached maturity.
For Romania, the estimated annual growth for the first six months of 2009 is 13 percent, compared to six percent in the Czech Republic, 2.6 percent in France, and 16 percent in Poland. Raluca Moroianu, Marketing Manager of the Media Pro Entertainment Division, said that the recession did not negatively affect the number of spectators, which rose six percent in Hollywood Multiplex and CinemaPro theatres in the first three quarters of this year. Moreover, according to the official, the prices of movie theatre tickets in Romania continued to rise slightly in 2009 in spite of the crisis.
The General Manager of The Light Cinema Liberty Center, Venera Maria Munjev, said that 3D products sell best. “Movies such as ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ are still running in some movie theatres after 45 weeks, and sell better than movies which have been running for one month. In Europe, we hold the record for 3D appetite,” she said.
