French films at the international box office: January 2018

23 FEBRUARY 2018

A French comedy got off to a strong start in Spain in January, while a drama captivated audiences in Italy.

This month, a majority-French co-production garnered over 400,000 spectators in international theaters.
#	Title	Admissions	Box Office Revenues (€)	No. of Prints	No. of Countries	Total Admissions
1	C'est la vie!	417,161	2,634,239	438	22	925,049
2	A Bag of Marbles	128,225	685,445	332	3	543,239
3	The Jungle Bunch (The Movie)	107,668	629,695	943	15	1,459,571
4	Christmas & Co.	106,917	344,313	254	10	706,618
5	Just to Be Sure	99,042	810,043	183	7	270,576
6	Renegades	90,896	815,026	161	2	917,911
7	The Insult	62,852	393,451	117	6	265,706
8	Happy End	48,608	299,958	211	11	364,220
9	Amant double	48,265	346,282	129	7	437,260
10	Bright Sunshine In	45,962	348,683	143	6	214,772
11	BPM (Beats Per Minute)	38,576	203,282	142	13	164,981
12	Madame	36,174	247,021	181	10	297,251
13	Some Like It Veiled	34,759	244,630	168	5	132,039
14	Tall Tales from the Magical Garden of Antoon Krings	32,517	124,671	332	6	46,557
15	The Young Karl Marx	30,911	135,864	46	4	313,338
16	Faces, Places	27,704	189,218	65	6	172,333
17	Orchestra Class	23,546	164,666	103	3	91,625
18	Frantz	22,718	55,943	49	2	1,001,372
19	My Brilliant Divorce	21,328	183,648	45	2	21,328
20	Fifty Springtimes	17,238	101,519	57	3	216,407

In January, majority-French productions registered 1.7 million admissions outside France, most notably in Western Europe, with 4 titles breaking through the 100,000 spectators mark in this period.

C'est la vie! has entered our charts for the first time, pushing to the top of the list thanks primarily to excellent performances in Spain and Russia. In Russia, this comedy achieved 150,000 admissions this month (€702,000 in ticket sales). It was released on January 1, which coincided with the start of the Russian winter vacation period, with its distributor gambling on offering audiences a film of a different style at a time of year when local blockbusters, largely aimed at younger audiences, typically dominate Russian screens. The film's strong results have also made it the most successful debut to date for a film by the directing duo Nakache-Toledano in this market.
In Spain, after 7 days on the screens, C'est la vie! tallied 135,000 admissions from 243 theaters (taking €841,000), allowing it to secure 3rd position at the box office! Bolstered no doubt by its favorable reception at the recent San Sebastian International Film Festival (SSIFF), as well as its Goya Award nomination for Best European Film and highly positive word-of-mouth, its release was upped to 266 sites in its second week. By the end of January, C'est la vie! had registered 925,000 spectators from around thirty international markets. The million spectators threshold looks set to be crossed with its launch scheduled for early February in Germany and Italy.

Another new title has appeared at the top of our charts this month. One year after its release in France, A Bag of Marbles has hit screens in Italy, attracting 128,000 movie-goers in its opening fortnight. After this promising launch, combined with strong word-of-mouth and events organized for Holocaust Memorial Day, its distributor expanded its circulation in its second week, from 169 to 235 screens. This is the film's largest release to date (followed by Spain), and its most successful debut outside France. A Bag of Marbles currently boasts a total of 543,000 admissions in theaters abroad, including 88,000 in Mexico, close to 60,000 in Belgium (€433,000), and around 49,500 in Quebec (CAD$469,500).

The 4th most successful majority-French production of 2017 (1.25 million admissions abroad), The Jungle Bunch (The Movie) reappears among the Top 3 titles this month, despite encountering a difficult start to 2018 in certain countries. While it is currently seeking to break into new markets, in Spain, for example, it only managed to pull in 28,000 spectators (taking €171,000) in the face of fierce competition from two animated films that have monopolized Spanish screens since December: Coco and Ferdinand. Nonetheless, with its presence in 15 international markets in January, the film's overall admissions score increased by 107,500 spectators.

Only a few hundred admissions separate this film from Christmas & Co., a major hit from December 2017. The first French film released in Ukrainian theaters in 2018, this comedy has benefited from wide programming (156 sites in its second week), with 82,000 tickets sold in January. Directed by Alain Chabat, it has enjoyed greater success in Ukraine than in neighboring Russia (67,500 admissions), where it was released by the same distributor.

Three films achieved more than 100,000 admissions in an international market in this period: The Insult in Italy (117,000 admissions), Madame in Germany (114,500 admissions), and Just to Be Sure in Australia (taking AUD$1.32 million). Madame has attracted more spectators in international theaters (301,000) than in France (100,000). And, continuing its international run, Frantz has passed the 1 million admissions mark abroad!

A minority-French co-production deserves a special mention this month. Call Me by Your Name, a co-production between Italy and France (La Cinéfacture), has been nominated for 4 Oscars, including in the Best Film category. This film has already registered 1.53 million admissions in 30 markets around the world, including over 100,000 movie-goers in Australia, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. In the USA, Call Me by Your Name has taken $11.9 million in ticket sales, representing 1.38 million admissions.