Between January and March 2022, more than 370 French productions were shown across the five continents. Among them, 29 were animation films, representing 7.8% of global titles. Over the same period, they generated 3.1 million admissions, which corresponded to 35.5% of the audience who attended French cinema abroad.
French animation got off to a good start in 2022: in the first 3 months, one out of three foreign viewers of French cinema abroad saw an animation film! Among the 16 productions that attracted more than 100,000 moviegoers, five were animation films. More generally, family films attracted the most spectators beyond French borders. In addition, two highly anticipated new titles attracted two million admissions alone.
| Rank | Title | Territories | Admissions (01/01/22 to 03/31/22) | Box Office Revenues (€) from 03/31/22 |
| 1 | Fireheart * | 21 | 1,356,480 | 1,356,480 |
| 2 | Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness * | 6 | 653,969 | 653,969 |
| 3 | Around the World in 80 Days | 13 | 450,854 | 1,189,315 |
| 4 | Pil | 16 | 360,570 | 455,902 |
| 5 | Flee * | 15 | 111,449 | 122,504 |
*Production with minority-French financing.
Highly anticipated after the success of Leap and its 14 million tickets sold (€79 million in box office revenues) in 2017, Fireheart impressed from its first launches and exceeded the threshold of one million admissions in one month of exhibition. Theodore Ty and Laurent Zeitoun's directorial effort, coproduced by Simpatico (France) and Canada's Caramel Films and Main Journey, and sold by Britain's Anton Corp, was among the top five most viewed films of the week in nine foreign markets. Nearly 900,000 Latin Americans flocked to see it, as did nearly 400,000 Russians (Central Partnership, €0.83 million).
Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness was the other new title, chosen by 586,000 Russians (VolgaFilm, €1 million) and 61,000 Dutch (Independent Films Nederland, €0.55 million). The film by Ben Stassen and Benjamin Mousquet was produced and exported by nWave Pictures (Belgium) and Octopolis (France).
Meanwhile, Around the World in 80 Days and Pil continued their international careers. The first scored high in Germany, bringing together 290,000 people (STUDIOCANAL (Deutschland), €2.03 million), while the second appealed to 150,000 Mexicans (Zima Entertainment, €0.36 millions), 72,000 Colombians (Cine Colombia), and more than 30,000 Danes (United International Picture - UIP (Danemark), €0.38 million) and Swedes (Noble Entertainment Group Scandinavia, €0.38 million). SND, is both coproducer and exporter of Pil, Julien Fournet's first animation film, produced by TAT productions with France 3 Cinéma.
Flee, bolstered by three Oscar nominations, carved out a place for itself on foreign screens: It notably tallied $340,000 at the box office in the USA (Neon, 36,000 admissions) and £220,000 in the United Kingdom and Ireland (Curzon, 30,000 admissions).
Upcoming theatrical releases*
- Flee (French-minority production), sold by Cinephil, will soon release in Latin America (Diamond Films), South Korea (Watcha), and Portugal (Films4You).
- Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness (French-minority production), sold by nWave Pictures and Octopolis, will soon release in South Africa (Filmfinity (TeamFinity)), Hungary (Vertical Entertainment Kft.), Italy (Warner Bros. (Italie)), and Romania (Vertical Entertainment).
- The Crossing, sold by Indie Sales, will soon release in Germany (Grandfilm).
- My Sunny Maad, sold by Totem Films, will soon release in Switzerland (First Hand Films)
- Even Mice Belong in Heaven (French-minority production), sold by Charades, will soon release in Poland (Association New Horizons) and Singapore (Shaw Organisation).
- Where Is Anne Frank (French-minority production), sold by Goodfellas, will soon release in Spain (Vértigo Films) and Russia (Russian Report).
- Pil, sold by SND, will soon release in Australia and New Zealand (Icon Film Distribution).
- Fireheart (French-minority production), sold by Anton Corp, will soon release in Spain (eOne Entertainment España (ex Aurum Producciones)) and Portugal (Cine Mundo).
- Yakari, A Spectacular Journey, sold by BAC Films, will soon release in Portugal (Films4You) and Turkey (CJ Entertainment Turkey).
*The above releases are subject to cancellation or postponement.
For more information about the results and international releases of French films, please contact Andrea Sponchiado (andrea.sponchiado@unifrance.org).
