In July, an animated film appealed to Australians, while German and Dutch audiences were touched by a drama, and a fantasy film drew in South Korean viewers.
| # | Title | No. of Admissions | Box Office Revenues (€) | No. of Prints | No. of Countries | Total Admissions |
| 1 | SamSam | 44,406 | 358,712 | 534 | 9 | 58,999 |
| 2 | The Best Years of a Life | 44,258 | 381,678 | 203 | 6 | 218,926 |
| 3 | A Mermaid in Paris | 27,456 | 161,104 | 325 | 4 | 27,456 |
| 4 | How to be a Good Wife | 24,381 | 158,068 | 374 | 7 | 34,489 |
| 5 | A Bigger World | 19,339 | 157,336 | 97 | 2 | 47,142 |
| 6 | Divorce Club | 16,935 | 131,453 | 110 | 4 | 16,935 |
| 7 | The Lost Prince | 15,481 | 85,733 | 93 | 6 | 78,060 |
| 8 | The Best is Yet to Come | 14,855 | 119,968 | 222 | 2 | 163,848 |
| 9 | The Truth | 14,550 | 112,462 | 151 | 12 | 622,881 |
| 10 | #Iamhere | 13,348 | 62,087 | 192 | 5 | 28,283 |
| 11 | The Translators | 12,533 | 73,051 | 84 | 7 | 210,777 |
| 12 | Les Misérables | 12,278 | 67,300 | 68 | 4 | 585,093 |
| 13 | Simply Black | 9,986 | 108,773 | 37 | 2 | 9,986 |
| 14 | A Good Doctor | 9,805 | 61,556 | 61 | 3 | 67,962 |
| 15 | The Sonata | 9,220 | 31,418 | 127 | 2 | 56,008 |
| 16 | An Officer and a Spy | 9,010 | 61,135 | 121 | 7 | 1,376081 |
| 17 | It Must Be Heaven | 7,600 | 60,572 | 41 | 7 | 175,077 |
| 18 | La Belle Epoque | 7,473 | 35,763 | 46 | 7 | 876,247 |
| 19 | By the Grace of God | 6,785 | 65,103 | 39 | 3 | 336,799 |
| 20 | A Man and a Woman | 6,668 | 60,967 | 40 | 1 | 16,078 |
In July, French cinema registered 640,000 admissions in international theaters (€4.66 million in box office receipts) thanks to more than 150 different titles, with majority-French productions accounting for 68% of the overall figure (433,000 tickets sold, taking €3.12 million). The monthly average of admissions was more than double that of June, when French films attracted 301,000 foreign spectators, but remains well below that of July 2019, with its tally of more than 3.67 million (of which 1.78 million were attributed to Anna).
This rise was largely supported by the gradual reopening of theaters across five continents, and was bolstered by several particularly successful releases.
In the month of July, the gap between the top two films was so small that we could call it a tie.
However, 148 extra admissions put SamSam in the top spot in our monthly chart. The Australian market, whose box office is ten times lower than that of the same period in 2019, enjoyed increased audiences during the winter school holidays (first half of July). SamSam took advantage of this period to launch in Australian theaters; by the second week of its run it was screening in 200 of them, and exceeded AU$150,000 in box office receipts (more than 10,000 spectators). The film will easily reach AU$400,000 and 30,000 spectators, thus breaking into a complicated market for French films, and one weakened by the current epidemic and its consequences. It overtook Astérix: The Secret of the Magic Potion, launched in March 2019 and which clocked up AU$276,000 in box office takings and 22,000 admissions, thereby becoming the third most successful French animated film in Australia in more than twenty years, behind Leap (2017 – AU$5.9 million, 378,000 admissions), a minority-French production, and Arthur and the Invisibles (2007 – AU$1.98 million, 180,000 admissions). Released also in New Zealand, SamSam will continue its run in the USA, Lithuania, Poland, and Quebec during August.
The Best Years of a Life missed the number one position by very little, but can be pleased with its achievements. In Germany, it was the first French film to be released since the reopening of theaters and it generated an average of 100 tickets per cinema, which only the top three titles managed to match. This fine start led it to be programmed on a 100 screens in its second week. One month later, it had tallied a provisional total of 18,500 admissions and €150,500 at the box office. In the neighbouring Netherlands, it appealed to close to 10,000 viewers in its first week and is continuing to do well: to date, it has sold 21,000 tickets for €193,500 in revenues, making it the second best result for a French film since the beginning of June in this country after The Truth (32,000 admissions and €293,000 in ticket sales). Its release was the occasion to organize the re-release of A Man and a Woman, which moved to the bottom position of our monthly chart. Already appreciated by 219,000 foreign moviegoers (generating €1.59 million at the box office), The Best Years of a Life is next slated for release in Sweden.
For the first time, A Mermaid in Paris made its appearance on the chart and immediately reached the top three podium. On Thursday, July 23, it took third place in the South Korean rankings. Launched on more than 200 screens, it garnered 22,000 admissions in its first week (€132,000 in box office receipts) in a market dominated by a local production Peninsula, the sequel to the runaway success Train to Busan, which played in more than 2,000 cinemas and sold over 3 million tickets in two weeks. This excellent launch is the first theatrical release for Big Wave Cinema (which until now had only VOD releases to its credit), which joins the club of South Korean distributors of French films who have been able to take advantage of the absence of American films in theaters to benefit from significant multi-screen runs and to reach audiences despite the context of a general drop in attendance figures. Released in May, La Belle Epoque and Tomboy have respectively mobilized 65,500 and 31,000 moviegoers (€400,500 and €204 500 at the box office). A Mermaid in Paris will soon arrive in Italy, Portugal, Russia, and Thailand.
This report is based on results recorded on August 4, 2020. As the figures relating to film releases are continuously updated, the graphics generated automatically on our website will differ from the chart featured in this article.
