The strong presence of adult and film productions of high commercial value has directly affected the boom in auteur cinema, both Spanish and European, over the past two years.
The huge concentration of releases during the last four months of the year has highlighted the commercial weakness of auteur cinema that is vulnerable to being overlooked for other cinematic options, which a year ago took advantage of the general vacuum of titles to make its presence felt in an exceptional way.
A year ago, films like The Rye Horn (Golden Shell, Elastica), Close Your Eyes (Avalon), The Girls Are Alright (Elastica) and the winner of three Goyas, 20,000 Species Of Bees (Bteam), achieved figures between 340,000 euros and 920,000 euros, with theatrical releases of between 70 and 160 copies. This year, the successes have been smaller, favouring more auteur products released in the off-season, as was the case in spring with titles like The Blue Star (Wanda) and La casa (The House) (A Contracorriente).
During the autumn, festival award-winning films such as They Will Be Dust, winner at the Toronto Film Festival, or Salve Maria, winner at Locarno, both released by Elastica, were resounding flops that only generated 71,800 euros and 44,150 euros, respectively. Figures lagged far behind similar films from 2023, such as Creatura (Creature), which made 204,000 euros, and Teresa (Bteam), which generated 183,000 euros.
In the spring, other award-winning and promoted auteur films also struggled to monetise a theatrical presence that many have considered excessive and more akin to standards developed during the pandemic era, when fewer titles were available. Films like Nina (Bteam), Mamífera (Filmax), Los pequeños amores (Little Loves) (Bteam) and Holy Mother (Wanda) brought in between 90,000 euros and 190,000 euros.
The boom in urban cinemas has meant that the niche market for many films has become concentrated in a number of cinemas and towns, making competition and staying power more difficult. On the other hand, competition from Spanish auteur products with high commercial value has been another key factor in pushing a type of auteur cinema away from the interest of viewers who, partially, responded to these offerings during 2020 and 2023.