In July 2022, French cinema was represented in international theaters by over 260 films already distributed and over 150 new releases, registering a total of 2.12 million admissions and generating €14.9 million in ticket sales.
Serial (Bad) Weddings 3 climbed to the top of the monthly charts after attracting 600,000 foreign spectators.
| # | Title | Admissions | B.O Revenues (€) | No. of Prints | No. of Countries | Total Admissions | Total Revenues |
| 1 | Serial (Bad) Weddings 3 | 596,619 | 4,652,377 | 1,176 | 11 | 918,389 | 7,361,470 |
| 2 | Arthur Malediction | 114,317 | 583,210 | 1,595 | 10 | 114,317 | 583,210 |
| 3 | Employee of the Month | 73,383 | 436,834 | 816 | 7 | 73,383 | 436,834 |
| 4 | Natural Born Liar | 56,086 | 369,347 | 925 | 3 | 56,086 | 369,347 |
| 5 | Ducobu président ! | 35,463 | 325,945 | 55 | 2 | 35,463 | 325,945 |
| 6 | Haute couture | 34,062 | 285,311 | 114 | 6 | 115,450 | 769,715 |
| 7 | Blast | 32,103 | 83,860 | 177 | 8 | 51,163 | 137,948 |
| 8 | Rise | 29,266 | 260,611 | 60 | 4 | 69,047 | 682,525 |
| 9 | Between Two Worlds | 26,495 | 209,211 | 157 | 6 | 133,335 | 909,566 |
| 10 | Little Nicholas' Treasure | 25,360 | 145,893 | 215 | 4 | 641,491 | 2,677,833 |
| 11 | Lost Illusions | 22,418 | 167,930 | 88 | 8 | 223,594 | 1,563,660 |
| 12 | Beautiful Minds | 21,729 | 177,886 | 138 | 6 | 178,977 | 1,569,624 |
| 13 | Bergman Island | 21,485 | 132,926 | 123 | 9 | 123,765 | 842,372 |
| 14 | Paris, 13th District | 20,508 | 87,670 | 104 | 7 | 221,596 | 1,552,908 |
| 15 | Final Cut | 20,244 | 188,129 | 303 | 2 | 22,273 | 210,266 |
| 16 | Finally Retired! | 17,756 | 163,699 | 71 | 3 | 17,756 | 163,699 |
| 17 | The Deep House | 15,182 | 213,854 | 39 | 5 | 45,388 | 413,420 |
| 18 | Hear Me Out | 14,865 | 123,328 | 169 | 3 | 60,083 | 484,870 |
| 19 | Both Sides of the Blade | 14,624 | 132,001 | 81 | 1 | 14,624 | 132,001 |
| 20 | Notre-Dame on Fire | 13,662 | 71,467 | 111 | 4 | 58,207 | 386,889 |
Box office for French films on the rise internationally
French cinema attracted 2.12 million spectators and generated nearly €15 million in international box office revenues in July. This was the fourth highest month in terms of admissions in 2022, up 67% and 51% respectively compared to June (1.27 million) and May (1.40 million). The symbolic threshold of two million monthly admissions was reached and exceeded for the fifth time since the beginning of the pandemic. This surge was due both to the expected and successful European releases of Serial (Bad) Weddings 3 and to a refreshed slate, particularly of comedies.
Europe further strengthened its leadership
Western Europe accounted for slightly more than half of all French cinema admissions in July (55.5%) and carved out a much larger share than in previous months. French productions attracted more audiences than in June in the central and eastern part of the continent (30%). Europe as a whole was the leading geographical area in terms of the number of tickets generated by French films (85.5%!) and was therefore the source of their strong growth compared to previous months. Unsurprisingly, the countries tallying more than 100,000 spectators for French films were located in this zone: the top three being Germany, the leading market for the second consecutive month (464,000), Poland (349,000), and Russia (197,000). In Greece, in fourth position (122,000), French cinema accounted for two-thirds of its annual admissions in a single month in 2021, mainly thanks to the summer season, which is a good time for outdoor screenings coveted by distributors to launch their new titles. Outside of Europe, only Latin America registered more than 100,000 admissions and more than 5% of overall ticket sales.
Comedy was the most popular genre
As in June, comedy/dramatic comedy was the leading genre of the month, attracting 1.3 million foreign filmgoers, nearly 60% of the total! Never this year has one genre had such a strong lead over the others. Among the 10 most popular productions seen on the big screen, seven belonged to this category. Next, far behind and separated by a few thousand tickets, were animation, which could still count on the success of the minority-French title Fireheart, and drama, each of which accounted for 14% of monthly admissions. Behind these top three, fantasy/horror/science fiction made its way into foreign markets with Arthur Malediction, released in ten countries.
Majority-French productions shot in the French language still in the lead
The nearly 190 productions initiated by France released in theaters outside the home market generated 73 % of admissions in July, thus gaining 4 percentage points over June, in particular thanks to the breakout performance of Serial (Bad) Weddings 3 and its 600,000 foreign spectators (€4.65 million in box office revenues), without forgetting Arthur Malediction and its 114,000 admissions (€0.58 million). Minority-French productions (77 titles) saw their market share of admissions fall back 27% due to the big success of the majority-French titles, despite the new launch of Fireheart which attracted 205,000 Polish viewers (€0.75 million) and 16,000 Norwegians (€0.17 million) in its first three weeks of release, for a total of 1.86 million admissions and €6.23 million in ticket sales outside France. Meanwhile, The Worst Person in the World pursued its brilliant international career (1.58 million admissions and €11.1 million at the box office), attracting 125,000 new moviegoers (€1 million). French-language films continued to dominate the scene, generating 1.8 million admissions, or nearly 86% of the month's total, while The Worst Person in the World appealed to just under half of the audience for French films in foreign languages.
The best performances by French films
Serial (Bad) Weddings 3 is the French film that was most seen in movie theaters abroad in July. The film launched in six new countries where the preceding two episodes had previously done very well and thus catapaulted into the top five rankings in each territory. The film attracted 317,000 German (€2.81 million), 109,000 Polish (€0.44 million), 60,000 Austrian (€0.55 million), and 57,000 Greek moviegoers (€0.37 million), and is about to become the first majority-French fiction production shot in the French language in the "post-Covid-19" era to cross the million-admissions mark outisde France! The film enjoyed the best launch of a majority-French production in German-speaking markets since the beginning of the health crisis and it mobilized as many spectators as the previous episodes during its launch in Poland. Four new films began their international careers simultaneously with their French releases. Arthur Malediction started playing in 1,360 Russian theaters, the second largest print run for a French production this year after Fireheart. It attracted 87,000 Russian thrill-seekers (€0.41 million): this is the best score for a French horror film in this market since Unifrance started tallying (1995) admissions and the highest audience start for a French-initiated production in Russia in 2022. Two of the three new films, French-language comedies, also launched in the Russian market at the same time as they did in French-language ones: 40,000 Russian moviegoers flocked to Natural Born Liar (€0.2 million), while 33,000 others went to Employee of the Month (€0.18 million). Also belonging to the same genre, Ducobu président ! was the third most popular film in Belgium so far this year, with 32,000 admissions and €0.28 million at the box office three weeks into its release. In French-speaking Switzerland, Ducobu président ! equalled the score of Ducobu 3 (2020) and could become the second most seen part of the saga after L’élève Ducobu (2011, 8,000 admissions and €0.1 million in total revenues). Outside the top five, we should mention the fine score of Trésor du Petit Nicolas in Greece, which sold 17,000 tickets (€0.1 million) and achieved second place in the local rankings.
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This report is based on results recorded on August 19, 2022. Since our statistics for film releases are continuously being updated, the graphics generated automatically on our website will differ from the chart featured in this article.
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Unifrance - Analyse mensuelle - Juillet 2022
