Top Cat Cartoon Still - H 2011
Hanna-BarberaMexico City — Mexico, one of the world’s leading moviegoing markets, had another record year at the box office, with Hollywood fare gobbling up the lion’s share of the profits.
Film chamber Canacine said in a year-end report that Mexico, which ranks fifth worldwide in admissions, will surpass the 200-million milestone in annual attendance this year and that theater circuits here are expected to rake in all-time high of about $724 million in box office receipts.
Leading the way was the Warner Bros. release Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which did a cool 31 million.
No Mexican film claimed a spot on the year’s top 10 list, and not unlike past years, market share for local productions was in the single digits. The biggest Mexican hit of the year was the toon Top Cat, a Spanish-language film version of the Warner Bros. TV series.
Yet an even bigger story was the success of the documentary Presunto Culpable (Presumed Guilty). An indictment of the flawed Mexican justice system, the film ranked third in revenues among all domestic films. What’s more, it eclipsed Michael Moore‘s Fahrenheit 9/11 to become the highest-grossing documentary ever in Mexico.
Mexico’s exhibition sector reached another milestone this year: it now has 5,000-plus screens, making it hands down the Latin American market leader.
