Foreign investment gained momentum and global streamers maintained their foothold in French film financing in 2025 while big-budget productions dropped by half, according to a report unveiled by the National Film Board (CNC).
Overall investment in French film production reached €1.37 billion in 2025, down 4.8% year-on-year, reflecting a 7.5% drop in domestic contributions to €1.08 billion.
Global streamers, including Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, HBO Max and Paramount+ held investment steady at €76.1 million, representing 21% of broadcaster contributions. Those streamers were particularly active in pre-buys, backing 54 French films in 2025, up from 45 the previous year. The biggest spike came from Disney+ which invested in 23 movies — 13 more than in 2024.
The uptick in Disney+‘s activity in France stems from its deal with French guilds to invest 25% of its annual sales generated in France to finance French and European series and films. As a payoff, the streamer has been allowed to access newly released films nine months after their theatrical release (compared with 17-month window prior to the agreement). Netflix and Apple TV+, meanwhile, have to invest 20% of their turnover in local and European productions.
International contributions rose 7% to €294.3 million — one of the strongest levels in more than a decade — highlighting the growing role of global players in the French ecosystem. On French-majority productions, the share of foreign financing rose from 4.8% in 2024 to 7.6% of budgets in 2025.
At the same time, the number of films budgeted above €20 million fell by half, to just four in 2025 with Xavier Giannoli’s “Rays and Shadows” starring Jean Dujardin from Gaumont (which came out this month in French theaters); Guillaume Canet’s “Karma” from Pathé; as well as Laurent Zeitoun’s animated feature “Wings of Freedom” and Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Changer l’eau des fleurs” from Studiocanal. With fewer large-scale productions in the mix, the average budget declined 3.9% to €4.89 million.
The global financing landscape was also marked by a pullback from traditional commercial broadcasters as TF1’s and M6’s investment in movies fell by 33% to 32,8 M€ and 26.9% to 24,5 M€, respectively.
Total broadcaster investment fell 11.8% to €362.8 million after a record 2024. Canal+ Group, still the leading backer of French cinema, invested €155.6 million, down 13.7%. The pay TV banner has pledged to invest at least €480 million ($503 million) over three years in French and European films in a deal with local guilds signed last March. Investment from public broadcasters, however, remained on par with last with France Télévisions at €58.9 million and Arte slightly increasing its contribution to 6,29 M€.
Minimum guarantees from distributors and sales agents rebounded strongly, reaching an average of €759,400 per film, with a record 84.2% of French-initiative films benefiting from such backing.
Public funding declined to €249.3 million (-13.8%) and accounted for 27.5% of financing plans — roughly half the European average.
Production levels were still healthy in 2025, with 290 films made, while co-productions accounted for 47.2% of the slate, suggesting producers are increasingly sourcing financing outside France.
