Photo: Jānis Konons / FilmFestival Cottbus
The 36th East European film festival runs 3–8 November in Cottbus; Dzintars Dreibergs’s basketball drama opens the edition, with 29 titles across three competitions.
Courtesy of LADY press kit / AFRIFF
Takings are up an estimated 20% and level with 2017–19 in dollars, but cinemas sell far fewer tickets. Korea, Brazil and Saudi Arabia grew on attendance; India mostly on price.
Read the analysis: Box office outside North America and China is back in dollars, not tickets. Who’s winning?Takings vs tickets
Takings rose faster than tickets in every market with like-for-like figures
Change on the previous year in takings and in tickets sold. Each market is compared over its own period.
TakingsTickets
South KoreaJan–Sep 2026
Brazilto 23 Sep 2026
Saudi Arabia2025
Worldwide2025
India is not shown: industry takings rose 23% in July–September, but the only ticket count published for the quarter is PVR INOX’s (+4%), so the two are not like-for-like.
Sources: KOFIC; Ancine, compiled for RioMarket; Saudi Film Commission, via Argaam; European Audiovisual Observatory’s Focus 2026, via KOFIC
Read the analysis| Market | Takings | Tickets |
|---|---|---|
| South Korea (Jan–Sep 2026) | +35.9% | +28.8% |
| Brazil (to 23 Sep 2026) | +25.1% | +19.2% |
| Saudi Arabia (2025) | +9% | +7% |
| Worldwide (2025) | +5.4% | +2.8% |
More analysis
Photo: Nielsoncaetanosalmeron / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
Skydance and Netflix job cuts, Hello Sunshine’s reported layoffs: where does the money go?Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
Prime Video says it pays its way. Japan is where Amazon is testing what it buys nextCourtesy of Bitters End. © 2025 Barunson E&A, Semosi, Vol Media
Who is actually taking films to audiences?
The Ánima Estudios / Videocine Las Leyendas sequel took MXN52.6m and 766,129 admissions over the Day of the Dead holiday weekend, lifting its cumulative take to MXN170.3m ($9.0m).
The 41st Mar del Plata International Film Festival runs 5–15 November with Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine opening, Marc Turtletaub’s Borges and Me closing, and every competition title listed.
Attendance reached 63.7 million patrons and adjusted EBITDA hit a third-quarter high of $268m as the circuit rode a stronger summer slate.
Joel and Ethan Coen wrote the gothic mystery with Eleanor Catton and Conor McPherson. The price, release date and gap before streaming are not known.
Val Morgan confirms the A$1bn ($701m) milestone on Tuesday, citing five straight A$100m months and July records for The Odyssey and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
The festival runs 20–28 November. Fourteen first and second features compete for the Étoile d’Or before a jury led by Marion Cotillard, whose fellow jurors are yet to be named.
The Chilean festival’s industry strand runs from 2 to 6 November with two works-in-progress showcases, seven labs and a first strand for fantastic genre films.
The number
$15.1bn
Estimated takings outside North America and China, January–September 2026: up 20% and level with the 2017–19 average at current exchange rates
The diary
Coming up: markets, festivals, release dates
Festival
Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival & Golden Horse AwardsFestival
Tallinn Black Nights Film FestivalFestival
Camerimage, ToruńMarket
Industry@Tallinn & Baltic EventMarket
American Film Market, Los AngelesRelease
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One researched analysis of the companies, deals and routes to audiences behind the week’s news.
