French films at the international box office: November 2024

The Count of Monte Cristo maintained its top position as the French film the most seen in movie theaters abroad in November. The Professional and Beating Hearts took second and third place respectively.

#	Title	Admissions	Box Office Revenues (€)	No. of Prints	No. of Countries	Total Admissions	Total Revenues
1	The Count of Monte Cristo	472,766	2,377,273	842	17	3,305,303	20,509,853
2	The Professional	439,953	2,234,276	0	1	15,497,195	72,596,531
3	Beating Hearts	137,047	1,661,189	70	2	222,449	2,672,339
4	Into The Wonderwoods	103,159	312,768	1,001	3	103,159	312,768
5	Week-end à Taipei	98,261	783,334	1,476	16	300,779	2,306,905
6	Monsieur Aznavour	91,851	847,693	263	4	121,094	1,157,354
7	Emilia Pérez	83,499	719,640	547	11	183,713	1,709,293
8	The Fifth Element	80,691	805,845	1,020	3	34,641,767	161,382,025
9	Survive	56,956	175,991	260	9	330,611	1,147,296
10	All We Imagine as Light	56,159	512,261	135	6	95,896	775,014
11	Animal Tales of Christmas Magic	38,159	214,271	511	8	38,159	214,271
12	Bambi : A Tale of Life in the Woods	29,541	151,658	730	8	104,924	457,592
13	When Fall Is Coming	27,529	260,674	94	4	66,999	650,130
14	Emmanuelle	26,064	114,421	585	4	51,008	339,630
15	Maria Montessori	24,184	128,289	69	6	537,652	4,349,033
16	Vermin	17,649	151,796	195	3	324,848	1,344,360
17	Dahomey	16,823	137,930	146	12	39,798	325,483
18	Zak & Wowo, la légende de Lendarys	14,886	46,740	360	5	279,153	952,356
19	L'Heureuse Élue	13,499	94,847	13	3	66,535	573,725
20	Christmas Carole	12,884	106,939	120	2	12,884	106,939

Box office results for French films abroad remained sturdy

French films registered 2.6 million admissions and generated €17.8 million in ticket sales in foreign theaters in November. It's curious to note that, while admissions were in line with October, the number of titles on offer increased. After the previous month's annual low (125), the number of new releases jumped by 38%, and the number of films by 21%, topping the 300-unit mark – similar to the period between February and May 2024. Admissions to French films outside France in November reached its fifth highest monthly level of 2024. While majority-French and French-language productions generated the most tickets sold, minority-French productions (+37%) and foreign-language productions (+105%) attracted more moviegoers than in October. Among minority-French films, Panda Bear in Africa (104,000 admissions) remained in the lead, well ahead of two other animated titles: Flow (79,000) and Robot Dreams (51,000).

Focusing on majority-French productions, the top three comprised The Count of Monte Cristo, The Professional, and Beating Hearts. The Count of Monte Cristo maintained its stranglehold on the chart for the fifth consecutive month, with 473,000 tickets sold in 17 markets outside France. In addition to crossing the symbolic threshold of one million tickets sold in Russia (Atmosfera, 1.2 million admissions and €5.8 million in total revenues), the adventure film continued to perform well in other territories, notably Mexico (Zima, 269,000 and €1.1 million), Colombia (Cine Colombia, 67,000 and €0.2 million), and Belgium & Luxembourg (Alternative, 383,000 and €3.9 million).

The presence of a heritage film, The Professional, in the monthly top three provided another surprise. This was due to its first release on the big screen in China, where 440,000 moviegoers (China Film, €2.2 million) discovered it in a restored version. What's even more surprising is to find a second heritage title by the same director in November's top 10. Thanks to a two-day event re-release in a thousand cinemas in the USA & English-speaking Canada, The Fifth Element attracted 80,000 new spectators (Fathom Events, $0.84 million). Cannes' Beating Hearts made its first appearance in the monthly top three of most-viewed French films internationally. Released in neighboring French-speaking markets, the drama neared 100,000 admissions in Belgium & Luxembourg (Cinéart, €1.0 million) and 50,000 in French-speaking Switzerland (Filmcoopi, €0.7 million) – trajectories that will put it on the podium of the most popular French titles in these two territories in 2024. The rest of the top 10 includes another film that sold more than 100,000 tickets, the animated title Into The Wonderwoods, a feat that was narrowly missed by the fifth-ranked Monsieur Aznavour. The multi-award-winning Emilia Pérez appeared in the chart for the first time, as did Animal Tales of Christmas Magic, while All We Imagine as Light remained anchored in ninth place and Survive dropped to eighth.
In all, five French films attracted more than 100,000 foreign viewers each in November, five were exhibited in more than 10 markets, and a further 21 in between five and nine.

Russia, China, and Belgium: the top three territories in November

60% of monthly viewers were in Europe and 30% outside Europe. In North America, Asia, and Oceania, ticket sales were higher than in October, while they fell in Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe. Western Europe was once again the leading region in terms of ticket sales (35% of the total), ahead of Eastern Europe (25%) and Asia (20%). The Count of Monte Cristo (113,000 admissions) and The Professional (440,000) and The Fifth Element (80,000), our on re-release, were the most popular titles outside Europe. Russia remained the top territory for French cinema (465,000, 18%), just ahead of China (440,000, 17%), and Belgium & Luxembourg (258,000, 10%).

Five foreign territories (five in October, seven in September and August, four in July and June, and eight in May) generated over 100,000 admissions each for French productions in November, accounting for two-thirds of the monthly total.

Adventure, drama, and crime/thriller took center stage

In November, adventure accounted for 0.6 million international admissions (22% of the total), still buoyed by the success of The Count of Monte Cristo. Drama was a close second, and crime/thriller won out over animation, which was boosted by two titles each attracting over 100,000 spectators. Biopics posted a handsome increase in ticket sales (+55%), while drama (+38%) and animation (+21%) also boosted their totals. Finally, almost 0.8 million admissions went to arthouse films (29% of the monthly total), which doubled their number of spectators in one month! Into The Wonderwoods led the way, followed by Emilia Pérez and All We Imagine as Light, not forgetting the minority-French productions Flow and Paris, Texas (re-release).

French films at international film festivals in November 2024

A good November harvest for French films at festivals. At CINEMANIA, in Montreal, where French cinema naturally reigned supreme (over 100 films in selection!), Antoine Chevrollier's debut feature was a particular standout. Block Pass walked away with two awards: Coup de Coeur for Best Director and Best Actor for Sayyid El Alami, who made a special trip to collect the award. In south-west Europe, at the 21st Seville European Film Festival, fellow actor Paul Kircher was honored (once again!) with the Best Actor award for his role in And Their Children After Them. The Boukherma brothers' adaptation of the eponymous novel of the same name was also awarded the coveted Giraldillo d'Or for Best Film by a jury composed of David Puttnam, Mounia Meddour, Paola Malanga, Eva Rekettyei, and Jeremy Irons.

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

> This report is based on results recorded on January 3, 2025. 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.