French films at the international box office: July 2023

Ladybug & Cat Noir Awakening took the top spot in our monthly chart, attracting 1.8 million moviegoers outside France.


#	Title	Admissions	Box Office Revenues (€)	No. of Prints	No. of Countries	Total Admissions	Total Revenues
1	Ladybug & Cat Noir Awakening	1,868,011	13,045,215	1,450	9	1,868,011	13,045,215
2	Jeanne du Barry	494,413	1,927,915	1,203	4	532,287	2,321,768
3	The Crime Is Mine	113,489	870,869	283	7	413,120	2,969,318
4	King	69,567	135,580	287	1	1,002,279	3,174,260
5	Rumba Therapy	51,430	449,312	248	2	195,921	1,605,350
6	Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom	44,896	336,936	292	8	2,670,461	17,705,486
7	Jack Mimoun and the Secrets of Val Verde	40,883	119,799	902	1	136,550	683,547
8	A Cat's Life	40,621	301,817	353	3	87,790	676,234
9	Argonuts	35,865	363,583	464	13	1,277,399	7,531,833
10	Driving Madeleine	23,922	192,582	105	6	442,701	3,933,844
11	Mayhem!	22,335	140,066	584	5	22,335	140,066
12	Both Sides of the Blade	17,168	148,154	97	5	200,699	1,431,548
13	Alibi.com 2	15,216	69,194	136	4	105,631	849,557
14	The Tasting	13,324	85,242	57	2	64,109	522,580
15	Divertimento	11,473	99,750	80	4	37,299	357,800
16	Contempt	11,330	102,825	13	2	356,660	1,564,909
17	The Innocent	10,753	60,348	70	8	186,737	1,394,902
18	Mascarade	10,125	71,269	26	6	152,571	1,087,047
19	Scarlet	10,072	91,583	73	5	65,104	430,276
20	Carmen	9,841	56,858	89	4	23,232	184,966

Box office results rebound for French films in theaters abroad

French films registered nearly 3.5 million admissions and generated €22.4 million in ticket sales in foreign theaters in July. After slowing down in June, box office revenues reached their second-highest monthly level of the year after the peak recorded in February (4.2 million admissions and €29.7 million in revenues thanks to the arrival of Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom), despite the lowest volumes of films in release and of monthly launches of 2023. July was exceptional in terms of worldwide cinema attendance: despite the summer season and vacation period, the American blockbusters Barbie and Oppenheimer succeeded in bringing the pleasure of the big screen back to millions of spectators, proving that original stories made by directors with a clearly identified style are still capable of attracting crowds. The other side of the coin: these two titles overwhelmed the rest of the films on offer and monopolized the screens. Against this backdrop, France came up with a trump card that enabled it to make a name for itself on European markets: Ladybug & Cat Noir Awakening. The film adaptation of the hit series accounted for 54% of July's box office in France, making it the French production with the most admissions in its first month of international release in 2023! The other two titles on the monthly podium were enjoyed by over 100,000 moviegoers each: the historical drama Jeanne du Barry and the comedy The Crime Is Mine.

The best French performances

Ladybug & Cat Noir Awakening was the French film with the highest international audience in July. Highly anticipated by its fans, it fulfilled expectations by topping the Polish chart and attracting 675,000 young and old (Kino Swiat, €3 million in box office revenues), but it was in neighboring Germany that it attracted even more: 860,000 (StudioCanal, €6.8 million)! There were also 110,000 tickets sold in Belgium & Luxembourg (Belga, €1.1 million) and 102,000 in Austria (Constantin, €0.9 million). Although other releases await, Ladybug & Cat Noir Awakening has been available since the end of July on Netflix in Spain, Italy, United Kingdom & Ireland, and in North and South America, Asia, and Oceania.
The other strong performance of the month was acheived by Jeanne du Barry, number one in the Russian rankings the week it opened, and since discovered by 491,000 moviegoers (Russian World Vision, €1.9 million). Already present in previous top 10s, The Crime Is Mine finally reached the top three podium, buoyed by 113,000 new admissions, of which 70,000 were in Germany (Weltkino, €0.6 million), its second-best performance internationally after Italy (Bim, 139,000 admissions and €0.9 million), and bringing it close to 500,000 tickets sold outside France. Also in July, King crossed the million admissions mark internationally a year and a half after its release in France, Rumba Therapy continued strongly in Germany where it attracted 123,000 spectators (Neue Visionen, €1.1 million), while A Cat's Life made its first appearance in the monthly top 10. Four titles were released in more than 10 markets, including Argonuts which made a name for itself in Scandinavian markets.

Admission numbers up sharply in European markets

Western Europe accounted for half of all international admissions to French films in July (1.8 million), and Central and Eastern Europe for 40% (1.4 million). Bolstered by admission figures that more than doubled in the space of a month, Europe reinforced its role as the epicenter of foreign admissions for French films. On the other hand, non-European regions (6.7% of monthly admissions) didn't benefit from this upturn, and our productions attracted fewer moviegoers than in June. Inevitably, the leading territories of the month were all European neighbors: the podium was made up of Germany, which took the lead thanks to 1.1 million spectators, i.e. a third of the monthly total! Next came Poland (0.72, 21%) and Russia (0.66, 19%). These three markets alone accounted for three out of every four admissions for French films outside France in July. Belgium & Luxembourg, Austria, and The Netherlands each accounted for more than 100,000 tickets.

Animation, biopic, and comedy were the most popular genres

After regaining the lead in May and June, comedy was relegated to the bottom of the podium of genres most appreciated by foreign audiences in July, following the sensational arrival of two productions that changed the order of things. First, Ladybug & Cat Noir Awakening: The film that put French animation back on the map, with cumulative monthly ticket sales approaching two million. Then there was Jeanne du Barry, reviving the tradition of historical and biographical films, whose limited range of titles is often compensated for by box-office success. On the other hand, the high number of comedies ensures that this genre remains a constant presence on screens, this month in particular thanks to five ambassadors in the top 10 below (compared with one for biopics, two for animation, and two for adventure), including The Crime Is Mine and Rumba Therapy.

Majority-French and French-language films sail far ahead

The 209 majority-French financed films (72% of the total) in theaters generated 93% of admissions in July, and their audiences were more than twice as numerous as the previous month. Minority-French productions (81 / 28%) attracted 52% fewer viewers than in June, and saw their share of admissions fall drastically to 7%. The same applied to language: French-language titles dominated the scene (3.2 million admissions, 94% of the total and +115% in one month), which put foreign-language titles at a disadvantage, with audience numbers down 47% and their share of admissions down to 6%. No minority-French production sold more than 100,000 tickets, nor more than 50,000: the leader of the list, Close, at the end of an extraordinary international career, just missed the 40,000 mark in July.

> This report can be downloaded in PDF format below (French version only)

> This report is based on results recorded on August 22, 2023. Since our statistics for film releases are continuously being updated, the graphics generated automatically on our website will differ from the chart features in this article.