French films at the international box office: January 2023

**Belle and Sebastian - Next Generation** took the lead at the top of the monthly charts. The four other French productions that surpassed 100,000 admissions were minority-French productions (**Triangle of Sadness**, **The Eight Mountains**, **Close**, and **Corsage**).
#	Title	Entrées	Admissions (€)	No. of Prints	No. of Countries	Total Admissions	Total Revenues
1	Belle and Sebastian - Next Generation	78,224	553,594	808	14	334,700	1,724,635
2	The New Toy	64,51,3	354,475	255	6	263,482	1,905,474
3	Maria into Life	46,570	371,426	153	4	61,513	479,086
4	Father & Soldier	34,890	394,361	51	2	34,890	394,361
5	Simone: The Journey of the Century	34,307	205211	70	6	156,274	1,357,235
6	The Innocent	31,877	207,088	95	1	57,273	463,183
7	Ernest and Célestine : A Journey in Charabia	27,412	206,378	201	6	83,770	644,921
8	One Fine Morning	26,191	176,595	81	6	62,910	480,488
9	Scarlet	25,444	160,222	80	1	25,444	160,222
10	Argonuts	25,112	94,030	177	2	25,112	94,030
11	The Passengers of the Night	24,561	197,320	78	4	76,190	539,807
12	Saint Omer	24,108	197,056	259	3	40,814	309,561
13	Beautiful Minds	23,748	213,062	43	2	222,930	1,969,032
14	The Origin of Evil	21,692	145,732	61	2	24,833	172,502
15	Little Nicholas - Happy as Can Be	17,495	88,703	105	9	83,335	523,508
16	Mascarade	15,827	81,064	140	6	88,683	713,041
17	The Chorus	15,615	70,533	0	1	5,540,170	29,478,139
18	The Big Hit	15,585	120,480	66	2	176,330	1,318,919
19	Ride Above	11,302	81,615	166	3	22,554	182,255
20	Everything Went Fine	10,543	34,332	92	2	134,342	906,618

Box office for French films dropped slightly internationally

French cinema attracted 2.3 million spectators and generated €17 million in international box office revenues in January. With the exception of box office revenues, which remained unchanged, admissions (-8%), films in distribution (-5%), and new releases (-6%) were slightly down on the previous month. Europe became even more central for audience numbers for French films, and, while comedy remained in the lead, drama made a significant comeback. Among the four films attracting more than 100,000 spectators (Triangle of Sadness, The Eight Mountains, Close, and Corsage), none was a majority-French production and only one was shot in the French language: inevitably, French cinema in international theaters in January was hence mainly driven by minority-French and foreign language productions.

Europe continued to strengthen its leadership

Western Europe accounted for almost a third of French cinema admissions in January (1.4 million), up 6% on the previous month. The central and eastern part of the continent still accounted for around 23%, but for fewer spectators than in December. Europe as a whole remained the leading geographical area in terms of the number of tickets sold by French films (82.5%): four out of five spectators were therefore from this region. Unsurprisingly, among the six countries with more than 100,000 spectators attending French films (-2 in one month), five were in this zone: Italy (322,000 admissions) remained in first place, again ahead of The Netherlands (287,000), while Poland reached third (279,000). Outside Europe, which was the only territory offering more than 100,000 admissions, the USA & English-speaking Canada showed a strong recovery, driven in particular by the minority-French film Corsage (66,000 admissions): as a result, they enabled North America to demonstrate the month's strongest growth in terms of attendance (+177%). With the exception of the latter zone, as well as Western Europe and Oceania, all other regions offered fewer admissions to French cinema than in December and their respective market shares did not reach 5%.

Corsage

Drama returned to the forefront

For the seventh consecutive time this year, comedy/dramatic comedy was the leading genre of the month, attracting 1 million foreign filmgoers, or 41% of the total, boosted by one production exceeding 100,000 spectators (the minority-French Triangle of Sadness). Figures show that comedies lost a quarter of their December audience, a global drop that only spared one genre, drama, which had a good month in January, attracting 0.8 million filmgoers, a third of the total (+72%), thanks in particular to the good performances of the minority-French productions The Eight Mountains (255,000 admissions) and Close (143,000). The biopic was the third and last genre to have a title tallying more than 100,000 spectators (the minority-French Corsage, 131,000), while animation benefited from the Italian re-release of the minority-French Where Is Anne Frank(106,000 total admissions in Italy).

Minority-French productions shot in foreign languages rise to the top

The 205 majority-French financed films (73% of the overall offer) exhibited in theaters generated 38% of the admissions recorded during the month of January, and lost major ground compared to the previous month (-37%). Minority-French productions (72 titles, 25%) attracted 29% of filmgoers and saw their market share of admissions grow to to 62%. The same was true for language: French-language titles no longer dominated the scene (1.1 million admissions, 47% of the total and -26% in one month), which favored foreign-language titles, whose market shares were all up (1.2 million, 53% and +20%). This reversal of the trend of previous months can be explained by the greater success of minority-French productions, to which the four titles that attracted more than 100,000 spectators (Triangle of Sadness, The Eight Mountains, Close, and Corsage) belong. With the exception of the Franco-Belgian Close, all are also in a foreign language. The most successful majority-French financed production (and in French), Belle and Sebastian - New Generation reached a ceiling of 78,000 tickets sold.

The best performances by French films

Belle and Sebastian - New Generation was the French film that was most seen in movie theaters abroad in January. Moreover, it was the only title in the top 10 to be released in more than 10 markets. Its releases in Germany (Splendid, 36,000 admissions and €0.26 million in box office revenues) and Russia Russia (Cinema Pioner, 20,000 and €80,000) drove it to the top of the monthly rankings. The best performance by a majority-French production in a foreign country was achieved by Nouveau Jouet, which attracted an additional 40,000 spectators in Poland, for a total of 66,000 since the end of December (Kino Swiat, €0.27 million). Among the newcomers, Maria into Life capitalized on its successful launch in Germany (Atlas, 31,000 admissions and €0.26 million) to reach third place. As for The Innocent, One Fine Morning, and L'Envol, it was the performances achieved in Italy that opened the doors to the monthly top 10 (respectively 32,000 [01 Distribution, €0.21 million], 21,000 [Teodora, €0.13 million], and 25,000 [01 Distribution, €0.16 million] tickets sold on the transalpine market). Father & Soldier opened in French-speaking markets and attracted 26,000 filmgoers in Belgium and Luxembourg (Athena, €0.26 million), and 9,000 in Switzerland (Elite, €0.14 million). The other new film to appear in the monthly top 10 was Argonuts, which was released in Ukraine at the same time as in France. Despite the war that has been ravaging the country for almost a year now, a few new films have been released and the French animated film has been playing on a 150 screens and generated 23,000 admissions (Adastra, €69,000). Based on the few results registered so far, this title has achieved the best launch for a French film in Ukraine in the last four years.

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This report is based on results recorded on February 8, 2023. 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.

French films at the international box office: January 2023

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