French film at the international box office: November 2022

19 DECEMBER 2022

In November 2022, French cinema was represented in international theaters by over 270 films already distributed and over 140 new releases, registering a total of 2.2 million admissions and generating €15.95 million in ticket sales.

Pil climbed to the top of the monthly charts after attracting 230,000 foreign spectators, and one other title garnered more than 100,000.

#	Title	Admissions	B.O. Revenues (€)	No. of Prints	No. of Countries	Total Admissions	Total Revenues
1	Pil	230,242	1,018,468	454	8	1,390,549	6,847,884
2	Belle and Sebastian - Next Generation	150,754	754,753	675	4	158,024	832,347
3	Kandisha	83,207	240,714	459	1	180,327	500,300
4	Around the World in 80 Days	81,758	261,087	64	6	1,512,968	8,587,280
5	The New Toy	48,057	483,692	49	2	94,612	955,308
6	Heart of Oak	39,466	142,360	75	5	79,632	344,498
7	Simone: The Journey of the Century	35,854	368,012	54	2	75,757	775,143
8	Mascarade	34,807	399,704	53	2	34,807	399,704
9	Ténor	24,583	224,973	75	3	48,893	409,461
10	Both Sides of the Blade	21,308	111,167	102	9	139,756	991,916
11	November	19,860	173,461	379	5	90,358	786,135
12	Serial (Bad) Weddings 3	19,278	161,002	43	5	1,759,868	14,136,196
13	The Colors of Fire	18,524	169,571	57	4	18,524	169,571
14	The Velvet Queen	17,410	137,545	61	5	255,135	2,094,612
15	King	13,881	46,023	79	3	565,961	1,944,356
16	Vortex	12,586	107,104	83	4	89,145	578,847
17	Hear Me Out	12,120	43,166	35	4	97,164	677,633
18	Les Choses humaines	11,925	76,885	187	8	81,724	546,618
19	The Passengers of the Night	9,848	64,737	74	5	49,522	328,008
20	Stay With Us	9,199	101,849	37	3	9,199	101,849

A relatively stable box office internationally

French cinema attracted 2.2 million spectators and generated €15.7 million in international box office revenues in November. October had the highest number of new releases since the pandemic (205) and in November this indicator dropped more (-28.3%) than the box office (-14.2%). Four films brought together more than 100,000 spectators (Pil, Belle and Sebastian - Next Generation and the minority-French productions Triangle of Sadness and Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness), and 23 were in distributed in more than five markets each.

Europe consolidated its leadership

Western Europe accounted for slightly more than half of French cinema admissions in theaters in November (55%), a share equivalent to that of the previous month. The central and eastern part of the continent, on the other hand, gained two points and reached 26%. The continent as a whole remained the leading geographical area in terms of the number of tickets sold by French films (80.9%): four out of five spectators were therefore from this region. Unsurprisingly, among the nine countries with more than 100,000 spectators watching French films in theaters (+1 in one month), eight were in this zone: Poland (335,000 admissions) was in first place, ahead of Italy (204,000) and Germany (197,000), previously the leader for five consecutive months. Outside of Europe, the United States, the only territory offering more than 100,000 admissions, fell to fifth place (162,000). The slight overall drop in admissions compared to October was due to the European continent, as all systems were go in other countries. Nevertheless, only North America and Latin America had a market share exceeding five percent.

Comedy was still the most popular genre

For the fifth time this year, comedy/drama was the leading genre of the month, attracting one million foreign filmgoers, or 43% of the total, boosted by the minority-French film Triangle of Sadness (0.69 million admissions). With the exception of animation and drama, which rounded out the leading pack, all genres attracted more moviegoers than in October. Animation flew high, bolstered by Pil (0.23 million) and the minority-French production Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness (0.1 million), and accounted for 21.3% of monthly admissions. Drama and adventure/police/thriller each nabbed more than a 10% market share, with the minority-French production Close (87,000) and Belle and Sebastian - Next Generation (0.15 million) leading the way respectively. The fantasy Kandisha (83,000), documentary Heart of Oak (39,000), and the biopic Simone: The Journey of the Century (36,000) helped ensure that all three genres were present on the international scene in November.

Majority-French productions shot in the French language still in the lead

The nearly 200 productions initiated by France released in theaters outside the home market generated 50.8% of admissions in November, and gained ground compared to the previous month. Minority-French productions (75) saw their share fall back below 50%. In November, the majority-French productions group lost only 8.9% of its October audience, while the minority group experienced a greater decline (-19.2%). The same was true for language: French-language titles continued to dominate the scene, generating 1.4 million admissions (-0.6%), and their contribution increased to 61.2%, while foreign-language titles lost nearly a third of their audience in one month.

The best performances by French films

Pil is the French film that was most seen in movie theaters abroad in November, after achieving the same performance in June. The film reached third place at the Polish box office during its first two weeks of release and already sold almost 191,000 tickets (M2, €0.79 million in box office revenues), which is its best performance so far in a foreign market. Pil has now set its sights on the 1.5 million mark and has proven to be the second most popular majority-financed French production on international screens this year! A newcomer is just behind, Belle and Sebastian - Next Generation. Shortly after its French release, the adventure film opened in Italy and Poland, the two territories where the recent trilogy had attracted the most moviegoers outside France's borders. While it had a larger print run across the Alps (347) than in Eastern Europe (258), it was in the latter that it generated the most admissions: 90,000 (Forum, €0.35 million) compared to 56,000 (Medusa/Notorious, €0.36 million). Kandisha, which resurfaced in the monthly top 10 for the second time after its ranking in May, was in third place: chosen by 83,000 Mexicans (Tulip, €0.24 million), it once again confirmed the appeal of genre films for local audiences. The great protagonist of the last two years, Around the World in 80 Days remained in the monthly top five, this time supported by its Vietnamese release, which added 60,000 spectators (CJ HK, €0.18 million) to its tally. Neighboring French-speaking markets ensured solid continuations for Nouveau Jouet and Simone: The Journey of the Century, and welcomed the first launches of Mascarade, all of whose careers will extend into next year. In November, it was Heart of Oak that created a surprise in Hungary: we can already announce that it will have exceeded 30,000 admissions (Mozinet, €0.12 million) by mid-December, at which point it would leave the local top 10 after five weeks of uninterrupted presence! All this translates into the best result of a (mostly) French production of 2022 in Hungary, but also into the third best score achieved by a French documentary in this country since 1995, after Microcosmos (1996, Budapest) and Winged Migration (2002, SPI), each of which brought together more than 60,000 nature enthusiasts. As was the case in October, Both Sides of the Blade and Pil both shared the honor of being the two titles from the top 10 that were exhibited in the largest number of territories.

Both Sides of the Blade

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This report is based on results recorded on December 16, 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.