French films at the international box office: March 2023

Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom maintained its lead at the top of the monthly charts, bolstered by 0.5 million admissions. Five other French productions, including Argonuts and Little Nicholas - Happy as Can Be, 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	496,110	3,022,283	1,265	26	2,139,306	13,607,604
2	Argonuts	471,335	2,064,433	2,715	8	817,620	4,674,391
3	Little Nicholas - Happy as Can Be	237,275	839,197	311	6	331,626	1,451,786
4	Heart of Oak	92,665	752,530	278	5	212,259	1,295,367
5	The Blue Caftan	84,880	680,791	253	9	85,289	683,726
6	Return to Seoul	72,594	593,429	179	10	108,909	909,266
7	The Crime Is Mine	52,850	497,962	108	4	52,850	497,962
8	Diary of a Fleeting Affair	50,526	386,929	175	4	122,315	774,516
9	A Happy Man	44,991	311,259	128	4	72,262	537,079
10	Pil	39,938	174,438	64	2	1,613,068	8,352,062
11	King	33,520	209,580	292	2	644,138	2,344,245
12	Alibi.com 2	31,830	258,655	190	5	46,661	487,616
13	Belle and Sebastian - Next Generation	31,163	190,982	327	9	399,463	2,095,751
14	One Fine Morning	28,070	197,137	176	8	119,555	891,217
15	Saint Omer	27,113	207,113	198	10	87,512	672,685
16	The Night of the 12th	21,182	116,143	110	6	107,479	705,630
17	Driving Madeleine	21,065	121,905	88	2	68,819	590,064
18	The Innocent	2,058	119,229	109	6	100,051	748,435
19	On The Wandering Path	19,106	224,841	46	2	19,106	224,841
20	Rise	18,526	117,148	61	2	304,849	2,398,473

A solid international box office for French titles

French cinema attracted 3.2 million spectators and generated €19.6 million in international box office revenues in March. Admittedly, the box office was down 22% on February, but the latter had been "boosted" by the sensational arrival of Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom. March saw the highest volume of releases and films in exhibition, and the second highest cumulative number of admissions, after the pandemic. Another difference compared to the previous month is that French filmgoers were more evenly distributed between the different titles: only 25,000 tickets separate the latest Asterix from Argonuts, both of which attracted more than 450,000 filmgoers outside France and topped the chart for the second month running. The last place on the podium still belonged to animation, but this time it was Little Nicholas – Happy as Can Be that took third place. These three films each mobilized more than 200,000 moviegoers in a foreign market: Asterix in Poland, where it continues to screen (Kino Swiat, 749,000 admissions and €3.07 million in box office revenues thus far), likewise Little Nicholas (Monolith, 236,000 and €0.83 million), while Argonuts launched with success in Russia (Volga, 207,000 and €0.59 million), without forgetting the 97,000 spectators charmed in Vietnam (Lumix, €0.3 million) and the strong ongoing performances in the United Kingdom & Ireland (StudioCanal, 290,000 and €2.52 million).
As for Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom, it became the first majority-French production to exceed two million admissions abroad post-Covid 19! Six productions tallied more than 100,000 spectators abroad and together concentrated 55% of French films' monthly admissions: in addition to the three titles mentioned above, this set includes the minority-French production Close (231,000 admissions), Triangle of Sadness (198,000) and Marlowe (151,000). Unfortunately, Heart of Oak just missed this symbolic threshold. 10 films were on release in more than 10 markets each, including three in more than 20: Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom, Close, and Triangle of Sadness.

Poland, Russia, and Germany lead in terms of territories

As usual, Europe remained the leading geographical area for theatrical exhibition of French cinema. In March, in the continent's western zone, more than two million moviegoers chose a French production, while more than one million flocked in the central and eastern zone. Outside Europe, admissions in Latin America doubled thanks to the warm reception given to the minority-French titles Marlowe (Diamond) and Close (Mubi), which each sold more than 100,000 tickets; a third of North American spectators for French films discovered Return to Seoul (Sony, 72,000 admissions and $0.66 million overall); finally, animation brought some color to our cinema on the big screen in Asia, carried by Argonuts in Vietnam (see above) and by the minority-French production Chickenhare and the Hamster of Darkness in South Korea (First Run, 54,000 and 0.34 M€).
Poland returned to the top of the ranks with 578,000 admissions, followed by Russia (285,000) and Germany (230,000); only two of the seven other markets registering more than 100,000 admissions were non-European (Mexico, 142,000, and the United States & English-speaking Canada, 130,000)

Comedies, animation, and documentaries were the most popular

Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom enabled comedy/dramatic comedy to remain the leading genre, attracting a third of foreign viewers of French films in March. Given the solid trajectories of the above-mentioned films, it is not surprising to see an increase in the number of animation and documentary fans (Heart of Oak successfully launched in Germany with 86,000 spectators and €0.7 million, X-Verleih) compared to February. Dramas also attracted more moviegoers: the top 10 includes The Blue Caftan, which started its international career with a respectable breakthrough in The Netherlands (Cinéart, 26,000 and €0.24 million), and Return to Seoul. The majority-French productions (70% of total admissions) and French-language productions (77%) accounted for the largest share of admissions in March; although the total was lower than the previous month (-16%), the decline was less significant than that of minority-French productions (-34%) and foreign-language productions (-39%).

French films in international festivals in March 2023

March was marked by French films studding international film festival selections, starting with Other People's Children. After premiere screenings in French film festivals in Argentina, Greece, and Israel, ahead of theatrical releases in these territories, it was part of the selection of Rendez-Vous With French Cinema in New York, where Rebecca Zlotowski and Virginie Efira presented the film at Lincoln Center, with Unifrance. Other People's Children also featured in the Belgrade International Film Festival and Vilnius Film Festival. Mother and Son was also popular with festival programmers. It was selected in the Dublin International Film Festival, French Film Focus , Belgrade International Film Festival , Rendez-Vous With French Cinema in New York, and Rendez-vous – Nuovo cinema francese in Rome, where its director Léonor Serraille traveled to encounter audiences (photo below). After winning a clutch of awards at the latest Goya ceremony, The Beasts (minority-French production) continued its success, receiving more awards at several film festivals: Best Film at the Dublin International Film Festival, Best Screenplay at the Belgrade International Film Festival, and three awards at the Miami Film Festival (Knight Marimbas Award, Alacran Music in Film Award & Rene Rodriguez Critics' Award).

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This report is based on results recorded on April 12, 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.