Lucy has raked in $58 million in the United States 6 days into its release, while Serial (Bad) Weddings has attracted 300,000 German spectators. We can confirm that the summer of 2014 shines brightly on French films abroad.
What a week it's been for French cinema in foreign theaters!
Obviously, right now all eyes are focused on the United States... and the suspense ended with the opening weekend figures for Lucy by Luc Besson (a film shot in English, but 100% French), which shot to the top of the American box office upon release, with $44 million (being 5.5 million spectators) across 3200 theaters. In 6 days, the figure increased to $58 million. This makes it the best launch for a film by Luc Besson, and the second best start for a EuropaCorp production, following on the heels of Taken 2.
Another huge success: Serial (Bad) Weddings, renamed Monsieur Claude and His Daughters for its German release, has had an excellent opening weekend in Germany, with 155,000 spectators from 224 prints, which increased to 300,000 at the end of the week. We recall that The Intouchables, the greatest French success in German theaters recorded by Unifrance, attracted 330,000 spectators during its opening week, and reached 9 million by the end of its career. By increasing the number of prints to 360, the coming week will be a decisive one for the film by Philippe de Chauveron. Sold to more than thirty territories, from Argentina to Hong Kong and China, and not forgetting Israel, Serial (Bad) Weddings has to date racked up 860,000 admissions in 11 territories and, within the coming week, will join the category of French films to have registered 1 million admissions or more in 2014.
