French films at the international box office: May 2021

La Belle Epoque achieved the highest audience numbers in May, while 7 other titles each attracted more than 10,000 spectators in theaters outside France.

#	Title	Admissions	B. O. Revenues (€)	No. of Prints	No. of Countries	Total Admissions
1	La Belle Epoque	22,758	70,645	120	2	1,040,967
2	My Donkey, My Lover & I	19,331	173,229	68	5	155,987
3	De Gaulle	13,490	121,677	29	2	77,499
4	Love at Second Sight	12,218	126,732	53	1	432,320
5	Mama Weed	11,772	95,439	149	5	239,061
6	Delete History	10,274	59,004	122	3	36,126
7	Bye Bye Morons	10,095	140,056	19	2	41,795
8	Two of Us	10,071	65,451	68	3	76,851
9	Yakari, A Spectacular Journey	9,097	118,720	83	3	240,104
10	The Rose Maker	7,720	73,856	18	1	7,815

At last, the eagerly-awaited month of May has come—but did it live up to expectations?

French movie screens finally lit up again six months after going dark on October 30, 2020. The films that were showing at the time of closure have been reprogrammed alongside new titles that will enrich the supply of French films on offer in international markets, starting with French-language territories, where titles are often released at the same time as in France. In these markets, restrictions on attendance numbers have been increased in Switzerland, with regulations also progressively eased in Quebec, and Belgian theaters are set to reopen on June 9, as they are in other markets that are awaiting the launch of productions in France before releasing them locally.

This wave of theater reopenings has reached the whole of the European continent: in May, spectators could once again enjoy the experience of watching movies on the big screen in Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, and Slovakia. Greek and Macedonian audiences could attend outdoor screenings, while attendance restrictions were eased in Norway (in June in Sweden), and Romanian multiplexes were reopened. In Israel, movie screenings also resumed after 14 months of closure.

By contrast, Asian markets are moving in the opposite direction. For the first time since the pandemic began, the Taiwanese authorities have ordered the closure of theaters in and around the capital of Taipei, and it is a similar situation in Vietnam for theaters in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. New, more hardline restrictions have also been adopted in Singapore, and the majority of theaters in Malaysia are closed. In Japan, the state of emergency has been extended to June 20. However, the authorities in Tokyo and Osaka yielded to pleas from movie industry professionals and authorized the reopening of theaters on June 1.

The recovery is slow and difficult in the Americas. The Cine Colombia chain, Colombia's leading exhibitor, once again pushed back the reopening of its multiplexes to mid-June, while theatrical markets in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile are stagnating. The Mexican and North American markets show more dynamism, although box office revenues are still far from strong.

The majority-French production with the highest audience numbers in foreign theaters in May was La Belle Époque. This comedy was released in over 100 theaters in Mexico and attracted 14,000 moviegoers in its opening week. If we add this to the attendance figures for the film's screening at the Tour de Ciné Francés festival, where it topped attendance scores, La Belle Époque is credited with 36,500 admissions (€96,000) in this market, thus allowing it to top the million spectators mark outside France (€6.6 million)!

7 other films each registered over 10,000 ticket sales in international theaters—the largest number of titles to achieve this in recent months. In May, it was the Australian market that gave the lion's share of its programming to French productions. My Donkey, My Lover & I continues its successful run downunder, reaching AUD$917,000 (64,500 admissions), while De Gaulle and Mama Weed opened in May, taking AUD$393,000 and AUD$302,000 (27,500 and 21,000 admissions), respectively. In other international markets, Love at Second Sight hit screens in Japan, where it attracted 12,000 moviegoers, and Delete History was released in Spain (9,000 admissions). The release of Bye Bye Morons coincided with the reopening of theaters in Switzerland (9,500 admissions), and that of Two of Us in Italy (8,500 admissions).

Despite the present economic situation, over 160 French productions were screened in theaters outside France in May 2021, generating 957,000 admissions and €6.2 million in receipts.

Attendance figures for French films abroad continued to rise in May—up by 11% compared to April, with the month of May posting the highest number of admissions since the beginning of the year, and fast approaching the million admissions threshold! The Oscar-winning minority-French coproduction The Father is playing a key role here: in May, it attracted 634,000 spectators in more than 20 foreign markets across 5 continents and accounted for two thirds of all admissions to French films (against three quarters of all admissions in April). Over 1.6 million movie enthusiasts have already seen the film, equaling the numbers registered for the Franco-Belgian hit Bigfoot Family (39,000 admissions in May).

Following a period of extreme difficulty, majority-French productions are now benefiting from the reopening of theaters in new markets around the world and the successful release of new titles, reaching a total of 234,000 admissions in May, which is the highest monthly score since the beginning of 2021! These productions' market share is expanding, accounting for 25% of French productions overall in May, or one quarter of all ticket sales. Our top 10 chart for the month shows 8 films with over 10,000 admissions, a significant increase considering just 5 titles achieved this figure in January, and only 4 in February, March, and April.

The division of admissions between film genres follows the pattern of previous months. Dramas remain in leading position, securing an overwhelming majority (75% of all admissions), largely attributable to the success of The Father, with comedies sitting in second place, with 15% of admissions in May. Bigfoot Family and Yakari, A Spectacular Journey enabled animations, which captured 5% of admissions, to take third place in this month's podium.

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This report is based on results recorded on June 8, 2021. Since our statistics for film releases are continuously updated, the graphics generated automatically on our website will differ from the chart featured in this article.