"It's so good!" – French films riding high in February
Thanks to a highly successful debut for "Iznogoud," which has jumped to the top of the box office for 2005 after three weeks on the screens, the month of February ended with a flourish for French films. Another standout performer, "Espace Détente," also contributed to the fine results of this start to the year, boasting close to 1,750,000 admissions.
Released February 9 on 664 prints, "Iznogoud," a comedy by Patrick Braoudé, has become top dog at the box office, since just three weeks after its release it has drawn a laugh from 2,405,186 French moviegoers, ranking it as the number 1 French film released in 2005. Right from its opening week, this feature film distributed in France by TFM Distribution showed its promise. After 7 days on the screens it had already clocked up close to 1,117,000 admissions (representing more than one quarter of total admissions for that week), with an impressive per-print average of 1,682 spectators. The Michaël Youn/Jacques Villeret duo have certainly hit the spot with local audiences, and the film's bright start raises expectations that it will soon cross the 3 million admissions mark. These fine results will no doubt delight foreign buyers who have already acquired the film rights from TF1 International.
Another hit comedy, "Espace Détente," a feature film by Yvan Le Bolloc'h and Bruno Solo, sat at the number 2 spot for the month February. Distributed in France by ARP Sélection, the film was released February 2 on 568 screens in France. It hit the top of the weekly box office results in its opening week, crossing the 700,000 spectators mark and posting an excellent average of 1,234 admissions per print.
At the end of February, the film produced by Jean-Yves Robin (Calc Production) was coming close to reaching 1,750,000 admissions, offering encouraging news for ARP Sélection, who are also handing the film's international sales.
"The Last Trapper" and "The Emperor's Journey," two adventure films set in the natural world and which debuted respectively on December 15 and January 26, continue to win over local audiences. "The Last Trapper," a third feature for Nicolas Vanier, produced by Jean-Pierre Bailly (MC4 Production) and distributed by TFM, is now coming close to 2,100,000 admissions. Also at this time, the emperor penguins of "The Emperor's Journey" are continuing their successful march. The first feature by Luc Jacquet, produced by Yves Darondeau, Christophe Lioud and Emmanuel Priou (Bonne Pioche), the film gained 1,085,039 spectators in February. At the end of the month, the film, distributed in France by Buena Vista International, thus posted a running total of 1,630,935 admissions.
In a different genre, this time another comedy, "L'Ex-femme de ma vie" ("The Ex Love of My Life") the latest feature by Josiane Balasko, produced by the director herself (Josy Films) together with Louis Becker (Ice 3), has topped 876,000 admissions. The film hit French screens on February 2, released by Warner Bros. on an ambitious 368-print release.
Another title on everyone's lips, "Le Promeneur du Champ de Mars" by Robert Guédiguian, released February 16 on 157 prints, has sailed passed 439,000 admissions, with a per-print average of 1,343 spectators after 7 days on the screens. Michel Bouquet and Jalil Lespert head the cast of this film, which was screened in competition at the recent Berlin International Film Festival. It was produced by Robert Guédiguian (Agat Films & Cie) and Marc de Bayser (Film Oblige) and is distributed in France by Pathé Distribution.
TOP 6 FRENCH FILMS RELEASED SINCE JANUARY 2005
| Film | Released | No. of prints* | Admissions | Box office (€ million) |
| Iznogoud | February 9 | 664 | 2,405,186 | 13.23 |
| Espace Détente | February 2 | 568 | 1,749,990 | 9.62 |
| The Emperor's Journey | January 26 | 408 | 1,630,935 | 8.97 |
| The Ex Love of My Life | February 2 | 368 | 876,924 | 4.82 |
| One Stays, The Other Leaves | January 12 | 260 | 814,978 | 4.48 |
| Sprung! The Magic Roundabout | February 2 | 499 | 807,089 | 4.44 |
*Number of prints in circulation at release date.
