In April 2022, over 230 new releases represented French cinema in movie theaters outside France, attracting 2.92 million spectators and generating €17.8 million in ticket sales.
The Wolf and the Lion registered 259,000 admissions in international theaters in April, while two other titles garnered over 200,000 moviegoers.
| # | Title | Admissions | B.O. Revenues (€) | No. of Prints | No. of Countries | Total Admissions | Total Revenues |
| 1 | The Wolf and the Lion | 259,684 | 1,753,348 | 1,170 | 11 | 1,732,230 | 10,517,510 |
| 2 | Love at Second Sight | 249,373 | 1,154,303 | 0 | 1 | 684,638 | 3,080,157 |
| 3 | Serial (Bad) Weddings 3 | 200,572 | 1,807,234 | 123 | 3 | 200,572 | 1,807,234 |
| 4 | King | 152,465 | 466,671 | 780 | 17 | 271,911 | 953,292 |
| 5 | Paris, 13th District | 113,438 | 853,199 | 429 | 15 | 153,225 | 1,146,628 |
| 6 | Pil | 82,705 | 470,677 | 480 | 13 | 523,783 | 2,412,366 |
| 7 | The Velvet Queen | 76,059 | 529,847 | 305 | 9 | 170,616 | 1,503,017 |
| 8 | Maigret | 51,189 | 211,094 | 438 | 3 | 70,041 | 410,359 |
| 9 | Happening | 43,108 | 358,532 | 307 | 14 | 128,395 | 875,737 |
| 10 | Vanishing | 32,502 | 214,459 | 540 | 1 | 32,502 | 214,459 |
| 11 | Between Two Worlds | 32,268 | 205,405 | 96 | 5 | 82,350 | 546,648 |
| 12 | Vicky and her Mystery | 30,427 | 148,725 | 263 | 4 | 333,203 | 1,287,310 |
| 13 | Rise | 30,239 | 323,067 | 37 | 2 | 30,239 | 323,067 |
| 14 | Annette | 29,809 | 293,426 | 59 | 5 | 386,586 | 2,518,900 |
| 15 | Notre-Dame on Fire | 29,400 | 190,265 | 404 | 11 | 37,518 | 275,095 |
| 16 | Farewell Mr Haffmann | 27,321 | 241,397 | 164 | 5 | 71,384 | 621,004 |
| 17 | Around the World in 80 Days | 27,304 | 180,639 | 227 | 6 | 1,209,137 | 7,065,480 |
| 18 | Délicieux | 26,171 | 106,313 | 77 | 8 | 362,181 | 2,551,011 |
| 19 | Titane | 23,331 | 232,564 | 38 | 4 | 521,961 | 3,813,879 |
| 20 | Petite Maman | 22,312 | 174,211 | 105 | 9 | 172,793 | 1,272,354 |
A slow recovery is emerging
The relaxing of restrictions on movie theaters continued in April, and the number of countries in which Covid restrictions are still in force has now reduced. That said, it is primarily families and young people who have returned to the cinemas, and their choice of titles focused mainly on Hollywood blockbusters, animations, and a number of locally-produced films. Indeed, it is auteur cinema and festival films that have struggled the most to find exposure and audiences in this period. The two leading markets for French films were faced with results below expectations (North America) and lockdowns (China), where box office revenues plummeted by 75%. The war between Russia and Ukraine has deprived French cinema of two key markets: in 2020, the Russian market ranked in 1st place and second place in 2021, in terms of the theatrical audience numbers for French films. Added to this is the fact that the summer season is approaching—a period usually characterized by an overall abandonment of cinemas, especially in the Mediterranean countries. Hopes of a true upturn in the market are also pinned on the film selection soon to be announced for the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, in addition to the post-summer holiday season.
A slight increase in box office results for French films abroad
French films attracted close to 3 million spectators in theaters outside France in April, showing an increase of 7% over the previous month. This is the second most successful month to date this year in terms of attendance figures, after February (3.61 million admissions). 264 French films were showing in international theaters, with 232 new releases in April—achieving the highest figures in these two categories since the start of the pandemic. For the third time in 2022, The Wolf and the Lion was the most-seen majority-French production in theaters abroad (260,000 admissions): it charmed 36,000 moviegoers more than in January, and 100,000 more than in March. It is closely followed by Love at Second Sight and its 249,000 admissions score in China.
Western Europe remains the leading market
Europe captured close to two thirds of all admissions to French films in theaters abroad in April, and, in this period, the Western regions of the continent accounted for a larger share of admissions (77%). It is worth noting that Asia is progressing, tallying close to 500,000 spectators for French films, securing 16.2% of the market, thus doubling the figures of Latin America (14.6%) and even Eastern Europe (14.2%). Germany became the number 1 market for French films in admissions terms in April 2022, registering 342,000 tickets sold, ranking ahead of Russia (174,000), which was the number 1 country in March. China, Mexico, Spain, and Belgium & Luxembourg followed, with each territory posting over 220,000 admissions, while 5 other countries also registered more than 100,000 tickets sold.
Comedy once again takes the lead
For the first time this year, comedies dominated the international scene for French productions. Three-fifths of all French films attracted more than 200,000 spectators, with Love at Second Sight and Serial (Bad) Weddings 3, along with the minority-French production The Worst Person in the World included in this genre. One third of all admissions to French films outside France in April 202 were generated by comedies. Animations held on to their strong position, following closely behind, capturing 25.6 % of all admissions, while dramas and the adventure/crime/thriller genres each accounted for over 10% of admissions. More generally, French family-oriented films remain the most popular at this time in the global market.
Majority-French productions outscore minority productions
Films produced solely or in the majority by France generated 65% of admissions registered in April, showing a rise of 12% compared to figures for March, with 5 titles leading the pack that all attracted over 100, 000 spectators. Minority-French productions' market share fell back by 35% in spectator numbers this month, however the titles shown in theaters include the highly popular Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness (326,000 tickets sold) and Julie (in 12 Chapters) (282,000 ticket sales), not to mention Abuela (159,000). French films shot in French continued to dominate the scene, and accounted for two thirds of admissions to French films abroad in this period.
Best performances by French films
The Wolf and the Lion has enjoyed a strong run in Germany. 6 weeks after its launch, it is still showing in the same number of theaters (460) as when it was released, and still ranks in the Top 10 most popular titles in theaters. Itd career is by no means over in Germany (STUDIOCANAL, 285,000 admissions and €2.06 million in ticket sales to date), since it looks set to outstrip the score of Around the World in 80 Days, which currently ranks as the most successful French film of the "post-Covid" era across the Rhine, boasting 304,000 ticket sales (STUDIOCANAL, €2.11 million). Love at Second Sight is the first film to be released in China since the pandemic, and faces a theatrical market that is severely affected by the lockdowns currently in place. Despite attendance figures restricted at 25% of the national potental, this comedy benefited from limited competition in the number of titles released, and succeeded in attracting 249,000 Chinese moviegoers (China Film Group, €1.15 million) and to gain extending programming in theaters one month after its release. A the same time as in France, Serial (Bad) Weddings 3 launched its international run, starting with three French-speaking territories, where it jumped to the Top 2 in each case. During its opening week, the third installment of the hit saga pulled in 33% less admissions than the second installment (2019), but 15% more than the first (2014). A larger number of releases are slated for the months ahead. Outside the Top 3 titles, King continues its run in Latin America, where it has registered 250,000 admissions (€0.76 million) in 15 separate markets, while Paris, 13th District will be released in around a dozen markets. Although it was absent from our Top 10 titles listed above, Petite Maman has started out its career in North America with flying colors. Neon has programmed the film in 4 theaters in the USA, which are currently generating an average of more than €15,000, for 1,500 admissions—a successful performance for a new title shown on limited release. The distribution of Petite maman has been expanded from an intitial 31 sites to 224 sites.
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This report is based on results recorded on May 12, 2022. Due to the fact that our statistics for film releases are continuously being updated, the graphics generated automatically on our website are likely to differ from the chart featured in this article.
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UniFrance - Analyse mensuelle - Avril 2022
