Despite declining audience figures, Malavita still leads the show.
The Family has registered a drop in attendance of almost 50% in the USA and English-speaking Canada (Relativity Media). It took $9.4 million (for around 1.2 million admissions) in its second week, with a stable 3,091 prints in circulation. This decline did not prevent the film from securing 3rd place at the box office in the world's largest theatrical market. With $28 million in the till after two weeks, it already boasts the fourth highest score for a French film in the past five years and has out-performed the previous EuropaCorp hit title, From Paris With Love (Lionsgate – $24 million for 3.3 million admissions in 2010).
In Quebec (Les Films Séville), spectator figures for Malavita are following suit with the USA, with a 47% fall in its second week (from 31,000 to 16,000 admissions). In the next ten days, its score should match that of Love (Métropole Films Distribution – 58,000 admissions), which ranks as the second most successful French film in Quebec in 2013, behind Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia (Séville – 167,000 admissions).
With still over 1,000 prints in circulation in Russia (Paradise/MGN), Malavita has triumphed, clocking up 755,000 admissions after just ten days. It could well end up ranking as the tenth French film to top 1 million spectators in this market since the beginning of the 2000s. In this period, three films produced by EuropaCorp have already achieved this feat: Taxi 3 (DVD Group – 1.3 million admissions in 2003), Transporter 3 (Central Partnership – 1.9 million admissions in 2008), and Taxi 4 (Central Partnership – 3 million admissions), which is the top performing French title in Russia since 2000. Malavita is currently credited with 4.3 million admissions outside France.
Fly me to the moon had a disappointing opening in Italy (Medusa), with 62,000 spectators registered from 234 prints. This comedy has struggled to make its mark against stiff competition from box office giants The Smurfs 2 and Rush by Ron Howard, which between them have dominated two thirds of all Italian screens. It is worth noting that the previous film by Pascal Chaumeil, Heartbreaker (Lucky Red), attracted 89,000 moviegoers in Italy in its opening week with 193 prints released, and finished its run with 114,000 admissions. Fly me to the moon could come close to matching this performance by the end of its Italian run.
This film has registered a total of 800,000 admissions in international theaters, and can pride itself as being one of the few French comedies to have won over audiences in the major European markets in 2013, tallying 206,000 admissions in Germany (SquareOne), 56,000 in Austria (Constantin), 97,000 in Spain (A Contracorriente), 67,000 in Poland (Monolith), and 100,000 in Russia.
And finally, an update on the international career of the last film directed by Claude Miller before he passed away in April 2012. Thérèse Desqueyroux was released this week in Spain (Golem) on a cautious 40-print release and pulled in 13,000 spectators, leading to an estimation of 30,000 admissions by the end of its run in Spain. Its international performance to date has been highly uneven. While it failed to charm audiences in Belgium (Kinepolis - 14,000 admissions) and Switzerland (Pathé - 6,000), it nonetheless registered 44,000 admissions in Mexico (Dragon, the film's highest score outside France), 30,000 in Brazil (Imovision), and 27,000 in Australia (Icon Film), despite the limited number of prints released. It only lasted two weeks on screens in the USA and English-speaking Canada (MPI Media Group), raking in a meager $90,000 (for around 12,000 admissions) from 8 prints. This score was unrelated to its success in Quebec (Metropole), where it registered over 20,000 spectators. Thérèse Desqueroux has amassed 208,000 admissions in international markets.
Matthieu Thibaudault (uniFrance Films)
