Ranking third in Australia and second in New Zealand, French cinema had an excellente 2012 in the antipodes.
Australia
420 films were released in Australian theaters in 2012, representing a very important increase compared with the 342 of the previous year. 171 were from the United States, while 28 were local productions and 34 were French (compared with 23 in 2011). France hence overtook local films in terms of supply of film product. Only productions from the United Kingdom outclassed France, with 47 releases.
These 34 French films released theatrically in
The Intouchables, released at the end of the year (one of its last international releases), grabbed first place in the rankings for French-language films with 417,521 admissions, it's career having continued in 2012. It was followed by The Artist, with 353,277 admissions, and Service Entrance (The Women on the 6th Floor) (164,748 admissions).
In terms of French films in a foreign language, Taken 2 realized an impressive score, with1.6 million admissions, while Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy attracted more than 530,000 spectators.
New Zealand
In 2012, 308 films were released in New Zealand theaters, 250 of which came from the USA, 4 from New Zealand, and, most importantly, 24 were of French origin, thereby positioning France second in terms of supply of film product. The market share of American cinema did indeed reach 93.5%, but France captured 5.5%, whereas local productions claimed only 0.6%.
This 5.5% market share probably constitutes a record to date, with 794,835 admissions, compared with 499,694 in 2011, which was already a record year, with a market share of 3% for 25 films released, and bearing in mind that majority-French productions represented almost 70% of the results.
Among the French-language productions,
When it comes to French productions in a foreign language, we find
Madman was the most active local distributor for French films, releasing 6 titles, followed by Rialto Distribution and Hoyts Corporation, with 4 and 3 titles respectively.
Total box office revenues increased by 7%, which is exceptional when taking into account the consequences of the earthquake in Christchurch (New Zealand's second largest city), which destroyed a third of the buildings in the city center and caused substantial damage far and wide.
Photograph: the main theater of the Roxy Cinema, an old Art Deco theater in Wellington, completely restored and renovated, which reopened in April 2011.
