TEHRAN -- Iranian cinemas sold 334,000 tickets and generated 30.725 billion tomans ($133,600) during a three-day half-price promotion held for National Cinema Day, giving the country’s box office a significant boost from September 11 to 13.
The promotion offered half-price tickets nationwide ahead of National Cinema Day on September 12. The figures were reported by the Samfa cinema ticketing and management system.
Among the films screened during the promotion, Soroush Sehat’s The Pool led admissions with about 78,000 viewers, followed by Kazem Daneshi’s The Death Bath with more than 73,500 and Yousef Hatamikia’s Guardian with about 69,000.
The Guardian nevertheless recorded the highest ticket revenue during the three-day period, taking in about 7.064 billion tomans ($30,700), while The Death Bath grossed 7.033 billion tomans ($30,600) and The Pool about 6.9 billion tomans ($30,000).
The animated film Savior Ship ranked fourth, attracting about 62,000 viewers and generating 5.112 billion tomans ($22,200). Napoleon in the Apricot Orchard followed with 26,000 admissions and 2.335 billion tomans ($10,200).
The remaining films drew considerably smaller audiences during the promotion. Personal Clothes sold about 8,400 tickets for 782 million tomans ($3,400), while The Roof attracted 600 viewers and grossed 552 million tomans ($2,400).
Antique recorded about 3,900 admissions and 374 million tomans ($1,630), while Safar be Limonia (Travel to Limonia) drew about 3,000 viewers and generated 234 million tomans ($1,020). Dream Seer sold 1,350 tickets for 100 million tomans ($435).
The lowest-grossing titles were Nabard ba Kharchang, with about 1,200 admissions and 70.9 million tomans ($308), and Hidden Moon, which sold 838 tickets and generated about 7 million tomans ($30).
The three-day promotion came against a broader expansion in Iran’s cinema market during the first six months of the Iranian calendar year. Cinemas have recorded 4.361 million admissions and 561.690 billion tomans ($2.44 million) in ticket sales since the beginning of the year.
The Death Bath, directed by Daneshi, has been the strongest performer over the six-month period, with 1.156 million admissions and 162.236 billion tomans ($705,400) in revenue. The Pool follows with 1 million viewers and 146.468 billion tomans ($636,800), while Antique ranks third with 546,000 admissions and about 63 billion tomans ($273,900).
The concentration of admissions among a relatively small group of commercial releases has continued to shape the market, with The Death Bath and The Pool accounting for a substantial share of both attendance and revenue during the first half of the Iranian cinema year.
The box office is set for another round of competition as Khanom-Valedeh enters theaters on September 16, while further autumn releases, including Hamid Nematollah’s Bet, are expected to add new titles to the market.