TEHRAN -- Iran’s theatrical market continued its six-week upward trajectory during the country’s 26th week of the Persian calendar year, with cinemas recording 607,556 admissions and generating approximately 75 billion tomans, or about $326,087 at an exchange rate of 230,000 tomans to the dollar.
The figures, covering Saturday, Sept. 12 through Friday, Sept. 18, were released by the public relations office of the Cinema City Institute and data from Iran’s Cinema Management and Exhibition Sales System, known as Samfa.
The week’s most-watched film was Khanom Valede, directed by Soheil Movafagh. The film began its theatrical run on Wednesday, Sept. 16, and attracted 118,078 moviegoers during its first two days of release.
Yousef Hatamikia’s Escort (Guardian) ranked second with 105,382 admissions, followed by Soroush Sehat’s The Pool, with 104,843. Zendehshour (The Death Bath), directed by Kazem Daneshi, drew 103,911 admissions, while Hadi Muhammadian’s animated feature Savior Ship recorded 102,334, completing the week’s top five.
Among individual cinema complexes, Kourosh Cinema Complex led the market with 30,689 admissions, an increase of 30 percent from the previous week. Iran Mall followed with 23,499 admissions, up 21 percent, while Hadish Cinema Complex recorded 13,812 admissions, a 17 percent increase.
Azadi Cinema Complex ranked fourth with 13,634 admissions, up 27 percent week-on-week, followed by Hoveyzeh Cinema Complex in Mashhad, which recorded 12,279 admissions, representing a 10 percent increase.
The latest figures extend a sustained rise in Iranian cinema attendance that began six weeks earlier. During the week of Aug. 8-14, cinemas recorded approximately 251,000 admissions. That figure increased to 328,000 the following week, 352,000 in the third week, 399,000 in the fourth, and 485,000 during the fifth.
With 607,556 admissions in the latest reporting period, weekly attendance has more than doubled from the 251,000 recorded six weeks earlier.
The progression represents the following weekly attendance figures:
    Week 21, Aug. 8-14: 251,000 admissions
    Week 22, Aug. 15-21: 328,000 admissions
    Week 23, Aug. 22-28: 352,000 admissions
    Week 24, Aug. 29-Sept. 4: 399,000 admissions
    Week 25, Sept. 5-11: 485,000 admissions
    Week 26, Sept. 12-18: 607,556 admissions
The latest week therefore marks the sixth consecutive reporting period in which Iranian cinemas have posted higher attendance than the preceding week, according to the Samfa figures cited in the report.