From the importance of international box office to the need for screening halls in Iran

Key priorities for the growth of Iranian cinema

Although for some time we have been hearing about films in Iranian cinema breaking records such as first-day and first-week box office revenue, a look at Iran's cinema revenue in 1402 (2023/24) and a comparison with international statistics indicates how small the market and economy of Iranian cinema are relative to global markets.

For example, China's cinema box office revenue in the first 10 months of 2024 was 218 times Iran's cinema revenue in 1402 (2023/24). In this situation, capturing only 1 percent of China's cinema box office with Iranian films would equal 2 times Iran's total cinema revenue. This clearly shows the importance of the international market and box office for Iranian cinema.

The number of screening halls is one of the necessities of cinema development in any country. China has 86 thousand cinema halls and the United States has more than 40 thousand cinema halls, while Iran has only 751 cinema halls.

Also, given the widespread use of technological tools such as artificial intelligence and virtual production in global film productions, planning to employ them in Iranian cinema is among the measures that require greater attention.

What do you think? Which priority is more important?