Between April and June 2022, more than 420 French productions were released across the five continents. Among them, 29 were animated films, which represents 6.9% of global titles. Over the same period, they generated 1.36 million admissions, which corresponded to 25.4% of the audience brought together by French cinema abroad.
French animation continued to make its mark on international markets: during the second quarter of 2022, one out of four foreign viewers of French cinema abroad saw an animated film! Among the 11 productions that attracted more than 100,000 moviegoers, three were animation features. More generally, family films continued to attract the most viewers beyond France's borders. And the minority-French animated production Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness (photo) was the French title that was the most seen on the big screen during the quarter.
The top five French animation films by international admissions in April, May, and June 2022
| Rank | Title | Territories | Admissions (04/01-06/30/2022) | Total Admissions
|
| 1 | Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness* | 24 | 602,645 | 1,291,514 |
| 2 | Pil | 22 | 301,157 | 772,361 |
| 3 | Fireheart* | 22 | 201,843 | 1,585,084 |
| 4 | Yakari, A Spectacular Journey | 7 | 57,336 | 416,016 |
| 5 | Even Mice Belong in Heaven* | 8 | 40,256 | 115,639 |
* Production with minority-French financing.
Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness (a minority-French production) took the lead, attracting more than 100,000 spectators in a foreign market during the period April-June 2022: more than 145,000 Vietnamese moviegoers discovered it in nearly 180 theaters throughout the country (CGV, €0.45 million in box office revenues). It was also very popular in Romania (Vertical Entertainment, 81,000 admissions and €0.29 million), where it topped the local charts, Italy (Sony, 78,000 and €0.52 million), and Turkey (CGV, 68,000 and €0.13 million).
Pil also forged ahead in Turkey: it took fifth place in the local top 10 in its opening week and has already been seen by 51,000 spectators (Bir Film, €0.11 million) and garnered 40,000 admissions in Vietnam (The Green Media, €0.13 million) and Spain (Big Picture Films, €0.22 million). Pil has done particularly well in Venezuela with more than 28,000 admissions, the best French performance in this country since 2019.
Two of the above-mentioned countries, Romania and Turkey, gave a good reception to Fireheart (minority-French production) with 68,000 (CJ Entertainment, €0.14 million) and 63,000 (Vertical Entertainment, 0,2 M€). €0.2 million) respectively. Fireheart is the French production with the highest number of admissions outside of France since the beginning of the year (1.59 million and €4.92 million in ticket sales).
Upcoming theatrical releases*
- Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness (minority-French production), sold by nWave Pictures and Octopolis, will soon release in Spain (A Contracorriente Films), Poland (Monolith Films), and Portugal (Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais).
- Where Is Anne Frank (minoritary-French production), sold by Goodfellas, will soon release in Denmark (Angel Film) and the United Kingdom and Ireland (Altitude Film Entertainment).
- Little Vampire, sold by StudioCanal, will soon release in Russia (World Pictures).
- Fireheart (minority-French production), sold by Anton Corp, will soon release in The Netherlands (WW Entertainment) and Portugal (Cine Mundo).
*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).
