Anne Fontaine’s film crossed the million admissions mark abroad last weekend, matching its box office score in France.
Initial results in European theaters for Coco avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel) are highly encouraging for its export agent Films Distribution. Current figures show that the film is the most-seen French-language production since the beginning of this year in Spain (275,000 admissions, released June 5) and in the Netherlands (86,000 admissions, released May 28).
Other territories have also offered it a warm welcome, including Italy (200,000 admissions, released May 29), Poland (108,000 admissions, released June 26), and Belgium (75,000 admissions, released at the end of April).
Released late June in Australia, it has put in a fine performance, already clocking up 100,000 spectators. It looks set to reach 200,000 admissions, thus outscoring the recent French hit Il y a longtemps que je t’aime (I’ve Loved You So Long), which attracted 185,000 moviegoers.
In Hong Kong, the film is also coming up trumps, with 50,000 admissions registered to date.
Currently ranking as the 3rd most popular French-language film of 2009, Coco avant Chanel should soon outshine the performance of Entre les Murs (The Class) and Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis (Welcome to the Sticks), due its upcoming release in major markets including the United Kingdom (July 31), Germany (August 13), and Japan (early September).
American audiences will have to wait until the end of the year to see the film, which will be released by Sony Classics.
All up, some forty countries have acquired the rights to this latest offering from Anne Fontaine.
