The latest at the French box office
"Chouchou" and some new "Frenchmen"
French films have got off to a fine start this spring season. Throughout the month of April, French films – with certainly no shortage of titles released – have succeeded in snapping up the top places at the box office. Each week of April saw four French films featuring in the top five spots, alongside "Daredevil," "Final Destination 2" and "Dreamcatcher." And the winning titles are not always those one would expect, as shown by the performance of "Chouchou," a film that has become a major success story this spring. Since its release March 19, the film by Merzak Allouache, starring Gad Elmaleh in the title role, held on to 1st place for 6 weeks, until the arrival of X2 on the scene. By April 29, the film was riding high with 3.4 million admissions to its credit. Currently with 560 prints in circulation, "Chouchou," produced by Christian Fechner and sold by Roissy Films, is slowly building on its Paris/provinces admissions ratio, demonstrating that the film’s success extends nationwide. And as a result, "Chouchou" now ranks as the year’s number 2 French film, just behind "Taxi 3" and its 6.1 million admissions score.
The other surprise hit of the season comes from "Frenchmen," debut film by Marc Esposito, which hit the screens April 2, on a 337-print release. After an opening week registering 332,508 admissions, and bolstered by a strong cast including Gérard Darmon, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Marc Lavoine and Bernard Campan, the film has performed steadily, crossing the million admissions mark in its fourth week. Produced by Pierre Javaux and sold by France Télévision Distribution, "Frenchmen" is still holding on to 5th place at the box office after one month on the screens.
Another newcomer, Richard Berry’s second feature, "Moi César, 10 ans 1/2, 1,39 m" ("I, Cesar"), with 330 prints released April 9, has also been well received by French audiences. This EuropaCorp production looks set to top the 700,000 admissions mark in its third week.
"Bon Voyage," the new epic by Jean-Paul Rappeneau, released April 16 on 400 prints, attracted 312,000 spectators in its opening week. Produced by ARP and sold by EuropaCorp, the film reached 515,000 admissions in its second week.
In a more specialized category, two actresses who have taken the director’s chair have seen their debut films achieve more than 230,000 admissions to date: "Il est plus facile pour un chameau..." by Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi (Gemini Films) and "Laisse tes mains sur mes hanches" by Chantal Lauby (TF1 International).
Meanwhile, "Effroyables Jardins" by Jean Becker (sold by UGC International) has shown its staying power, coming close to the 900,000 admissions mark in its fifth week on the screens.
Films showing in May
The month of May should also reap fine rewards for French films at the box office, with the release of a number of eagerly awaited titles showcased at Cannes.
At the same time as festival-goers, the general public will be able to discover the Cannes opener "Fanfan la Tulipe." Produced, sold and distributed by EuropaCorp, the film by Gérard Krawczyk will be released May 14 on 650 prints.
François Ozon’s new film, "Swimming Pool," included in Official Competition at Cannes, will set out to win over French audiences Wednesday, May 21, released by Mars Distribution.
It will be followed May 28 by "Les Côtelettes" by Bertrand Blier, also in Official Competition, to be released by EuropaCorp, who are also handing the film’s international sales.
Other titles in the spotlight this May are "Gomez et Tavares" by Gilles Paquet-Brenner (May 7, 500 prints) and "Un homme, un vrai" by Jean-Marie and Arnaud Larrieu, directors of the much-acclaimed medium-length film La Brèche de Roland, as well as several debut films: "Toutes les filles sont folles" by Pascale Pouzadoux, "Maléfique" by Eric Valette (May 7) and "Rien que du bonheur" by Denis Parent (May 14), by directors who have already made their mark in the short film scene.
TOP 5 FRENCH FILMS IN FRANCE – JANUARY TO APRIL, 2003
Film | Released | Prints | Admissions | Box office (EUR) |
Taxi 3 | January | 969 | 6,150,841 | 33,829,625 |
Chouchou* | March | 402 | 3,415,983 | 18,287,260 |
La Beuze | February | 408 | 1,934,481 | 10,639,645 |
18 ans après | February | 630 | 1,512,859 | 8,312,298 |
Laughter and Punishment | January | 275 | 1,112,614 | 6,119,377 |
*film still showing in theaters