French films at the international box office: February 2023

17 MARCH 2023

In February 2023, French cinema was represented in international theaters by over 290 films already distributed and over 210 new releases, registering a total of 4.2 million admissions and generating €29.7 million in ticket sales.

Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom took the lead at the top of the monthly charts, with 1.63 million spectators. Five other French productions, including Argonuts, surpassed 100,000 admissions.

#	Title	Admissions	B.O. Revenues (€)	No. of Prints	No. of Countries	Total admissions	Total Revenues
1	Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom	1,635,971	10,518,4,67	2,889	30	1,635,971	10,518,467
2	Argonuts	330,125	2,499,497	1,068	5	355,289	2,594,321
3	Pil	67,251	256,883	76	2	1,547,002	7,799,571
4	Return to Seoul	30,083	258,472	110	9	36,309	315,794
5	A Happy Man	27,271	225,820	60	3	27,271	225,820
6	Maria into Life	23,951	201,167	104	4	85,522	680,253
7	Lourdes	23,037	190,996	660	6	43,119	296,013
8	Diary of a Fleeting Affair	21,794	137,341	59	1	69,859	375,849
9	The Innocent	21,057	150,461	82	3	78,330	613,644
10	Say Cheese	20,387	162,442	84	1	22,571	177,649
11	Saint Omer	18,997	151,188	164	4	60,176	461,934
12	One Fine Morning	18,625	138,457	48	6	87,621	681,135
13	Everything Went Fine	18,348	167,977	15	3	155,404	1,085,488
14	Other People's Children	15,187	91,970	51	3	30,724	203,310
15	Alibi.com 2	14,619	225,251	15	1	14,619	225,251
16	Ernest and Célestine : A Journey in Charabia	14,444	67,898	344	6	98,839	714,296
17	Belle and Sebastian - Next Generation	14,075	87,521	193	8	362,734	1,857,752
18	Final Cut	13,321	92,665	151	6	76,938	506,199
19	More than Ever	13,151	73,751	176	5	48,609	377,539
20	Mascarade	10,231	40,283	33	5	99,578	755,182

Box office for French films soars internationally

French cinema attracted 4.2 million spectators and generated €29.7 million in international box office revenues in February. This is an exceptional period for French films outside our borders, with the highest levels of admissions, revenues, releases, and films in exhibition since the end of the pandemic! This spectacular rebound is mainly due to Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom which alone accounted for 40% of the monthly audience tally for French cinema. In addition, the fine debut of Argonuts augured a sterling international career. Once again, minority-French productions remain at the forefront of the scene: the recently released Marlowe (545,000 admissions), Triangle of Sadness (353,000), Close (209,000), and The Eight Mountains (131,000) complete the group of six titles that have passed the 100,000 monthly admissions mark. These scores reveal a reinforced polarization of admissions around a reduced number of films. Other highlights include the renewed leadership of majority-French and French-language productions, and the increase in the number of spectators in North America and Eastern Europe, as well as that of fans of comedies, animated films, and thrillers.

Attendance figures up in North America and Eastern Europe

Western Europe accounted for almost half of French cinema admissions in February (2 million), up 44% on the previous month. The central and eastern part of the continent accounted for double the number of spectators than in January, thanks to the success of the latest Asterix and to animated films. Europe as a whole remained the leading geographical area in terms of the number of tickets sold by French films (75%): three out of four spectators were therefore from this region. Unsurprisingly, among the 11 countries with more than 100,000 spectators attending French films (+5 in one month), nine were in this zone: Poland rose to second place (592,000 admissions), while Italy dropped to third (374,000). For the first time, the United Kingdom & Ireland joined this group, bolstered by the warm welcome given to Argonuts. Outside Europe, the only territories offering more than 100,000 admissions were the United States and English-speaking Canada, which took the top spot (651,000), and Quebec (137,000), thanks respectively to the 468,000 spectators for Marlowe and the 87,000 for Asterix & Obelix. All other geographic zones generated less than 100,000 admissions each to French titles and their respective market shares didn't reach 5%.

Comedy, thrillers, and animation were the most popular genres

For the eight consecutive time this year, comedy/dramatic comedy was the leading genre of the month, attracting 2.35 million foreign filmgoers, or 56.5% of the total, boosted by the 1.64 million moviegoers who chose Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom. Nevertheless, it was the adventure/crime/thriller genre that showed the strongest evolution given the release of the minority-French Marlowe, which placed it behind comedy and a short distance ahead of drama, admissions for which decreased by 20% compared with January. Not to mention animated films' achievement (+140%), which relied on Argonuts and Pil, and the releases of Lourdes, which revived the French documentary in American cinemas. On the other hand, biopic/war/history and fantasy/horror/science fiction were relegated to the background this month.

Majority-French productions shot in the French language set sail

The 218 majority-French financed films (74% of the overall offer) exhibited in theaters generated 64.5% of the admissions recorded during the month of February, and tripled compared with the previous month. Minority-French productions (76 titles, 26%) attracted 2.4% more moviegoers than in January, but saw their market share of admissions decrease to 35%. The same was true for language: French-language titles dominated the scene (2.9 million admissions, 70.4% of the total and +167.8% in one month), which put foreign-language titles at a disadvantage, with their audience numbers remaining unchanged, but their share falling below 30%. This trend reversal is explained by the spectacular arrival of Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom and the release of Argonuts.

The best performances by French films

Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Empire was the French film that was most seen in movie theaters abroad in February. Released in more than 30 foreign markets, it has already attracted 1.64 million viewers, including 510,000 in Poland (Kino Swiat, €2.14 million), 194,000 in Belgium (Alternative, €1.83 million), 143,000 in Italy (Notorious, €0.95 million), and 112,000 in Spain (Notorious, €0.69 million). Still present in most of the local top 10 one month after its launch, the latest Asterix & Obelix film has exceeded $1 million in Quebec (Sphère, 100,000 admissions) and has found its audience in the Czech Republic (Bioscop, 84,000 admissions and €0.61 million) and Greece (Rosebud.21, 77,000 and €0.46 million). The success of Argonuts in Italy (Notorious, 100,000 and €0.63 million) and the United Kingdom & Ireland (StudioCanal, 214,000 and €1.77 million) propelled the animated film directly to second place, with the knowledge that a fine career is in store in Greece: attendance doubled during the second weekend of release and the film is now aiming for 30,000 spectators (Tanweer). A major player in 2021, Pil made its umpteenth appearance on the monthly podium, as its successful release in Romania was greeted by 67,000 spectators of all ages (Cay, €0.26 million). In the USA, Return to Seoul exceeded $100,000 in box office revenues at the end of its second weekend of release (Sony, 13,000 admissions) and its programming continues to expand as the weeks go by. In Quebec A Happy Man surprised everyone by making it into the local top 10 and earning over $100,000 in one week (A-Z, 16,000 admissions and €0.12 million in total).

Return to Seoul

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This report is based on results recorded on March 9, 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.