Turkish films overtake Hollywood at home

ISTANBUL

Turkish cinema might not be able to compete against Hollywood internationally, but it hasn’t suffering any problems in competing against it in its own backyard. That’s because Turkish productions overtook Hollywood films in domestic theaters in 2016 as 29 million out of 55 million cinemagoers opted to watch 169 Turkish films released this year. 

According to information provided by Box Office Turkey, Turkish cinemagoers chose to watch local productions in cinemas after the number of internationally awarded Turkish films increased in recent years. The news is a reversal of former trends in which Hollywood productions were more popular among Turkish audiences. 

The number of Turkish films released in Turkey was 34 in 2006, 43 in 2007, 51 in 2008, 70 in 2009, 66 in 2010, 75 in 2011, 60 in 2012, 88 in 2013, 112 in 2014 and 136 in 2015. Two weeks before the end of 2016, among 509 films screened in cinemas, 169 were Turkish films.
 
Box offices grossed a total of 655,876,023 Turkish Liras, with Turkish productions receiving 330,036,245 liras of this share. 

Turkish films most watched in 2016

This year, the most watched film was “Dağ 2” (Mountain 2), directed by Alper Çağlar and financially supported by the Culture and Tourism Ministry. The film was released on Nov. 4 and seen by 2,422,060 people, grossing 26,623,484 Turkish liras.
 
Çağlar Ertuğrul, Murat Serezli, Ufuk Bayraktar, Atılgan Gümüş, Emir Benderlioğlu and Ahu Türkpençe star in the film that features the story of a seven-person military team who are sent on a cross-border operation. 

Mert Baykal’s “Kardeşim Benim” (My Brother), which was released on Jan. 15, was the runner-up with 2,070,008 viewers and 23,127,828 liras in profit. 

The film stars Burak Özçivit, Murat Boz and Aslı Enver, and depicts an emotional but funny story following the life of two brothers who reunite after years of dispute, upon their deceased father’s request. 

“Dedemin Fişi” (Pulling the Plug) by Meltem Bozoflu was watched by 2,015,665 viewers since its release on Jan. 22 and earned 22,912,770 liras in gross box office receipts. The film presents an entertaining story of the members of the Çirçi family, who compete to take the biggest share from their father’s inheritance. Onur Buldu, Alper Kul, Erdem Yener, Onur Atilla, Meltem Yılmazkaya, İrem Sak, Özge Borak, Doğa Rutkay, Uğur Bilgin, Ali Sunal and Ayşen Gruda star in the film. 

According to Box Office Turkey, the other most-watched films in Turkey in 2016 were, respectively, “Osman Pazarlama” (Osman Marketing), “Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Kolpaçino 3,” “İkimizin Yerine” (For Both of Us),“Kocan Kadar Konuş” (The Husband Factor), “Ice Age 5: Collision Course” and “Ekşi Elmalar” (Sour Apples).