International box office results for French films: November 2009

05 DECEMBER 2009

Coco Before Chanel remains the top performing French release, currently tallying 5 million admissions. Little Nicholas has launched its international career with a running total of 300,000 ad.

Rank	Title	Adms.	Revenues	No. of Prints	No. of Countries	Total Adms.
1	Coco Before Chanel	577,256	2,764,279	556	14	4,989,050
2	The White Ribbon	165,265	1,025,452	134	7	284,373
3	The True Story of Puss'n Boots	90,640	188,934	139	3	1,157,545
4	Little Nicholas	80,453	552,982	40	2	306,353
5	Looking for Eric	73,939	503,302	87	4	147,619
6	Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard	68,838	386,140	304	1	68,838
7	Micmacs	37,385	272,508	54	2	68,914
8	Lucky Luke	33,659	228,957	32	2	83,795
9	Antichrist	31,277	172,520	36	4	617,626
10	Treasure	30,265	192,829	17	2	30,265
11	The Concert	26,602	162,280	14	1	26,602
12	Paris 36	24,835	60,870	34	3	396,881
13	Don't look back	24,077	120,468	127	1	129,188
14	Leaving	23,937	150,278	36	2	75,986
15	Dorothy Mills	18,675	39,197	53	1	344,523
16	MR 73	14,720	40,482	15	1	141,791
17	Paris	13,574	63,843	27	1	1 103,506
18	My Friends, My Loves	11,993	75,442	37	1	53,402
19	La Danse, The Paris Opera Ballet	11,727	55,117	1	1	11,727
20	Welcome to the Land of Ch'tis	11,471	24,449	15	1	5,864,130

With 5 million admissions to its credit in foreign theaters, Coco Before Chanel has proved a major hit. The most successful French-language film of 2009, it also ranks as the 12th most popular French-language film abroad over the past ten years. It will soon outscore Taxi 2, Taxi 4 and Les Choristes, thus moving up to 8th place. The film's best results come from the USA, where it currently boasts 800,000 admissions and is well on its way to crossing the million spectators mark. It has performed well in other countries, attracting 550,000 spectators in Japan, 520,000 in the UK, 510,000 in Germany, 300,000 in Spain, and 250,000 in Australia and Poland. Admissions scores top 100,000 in 13 territories to date. Its performance abroad has been exemplary, following in the footsteps of another highly successful French biopic, La Môme, which pulled in 6 million admissions. These results bode well for the upcoming release of Serge Gainsbourg: vie héroïque, about the life of the legendary singer, which is due to hit Russian screens in March 2010.

Little Nicholas has crossed the 300,000 admissions threshold in French-speaking countries, with other international territories soon to launch the film. Its best results to date come from Belgium, with over 200,000 admissions registered. The film now outshines the previous best performer in this territory, De l’autre côté du lit, which attracted 59,000 moviegoers. Swiss audiences also showed their appreciation for the film. Registering 115,000 admissions, it ranks as the top French film of the year, ahead of Coco avant Chanel (70,000 admissions). It is slated for release in Greece in December and Germany in early February.

The True Story of Puss'n Boots has made a hit in Mexico, currently tallying almost 600,000 admissions and standing out as the number 1 French film in this territory in 2009, far ahead of the number 2 performer, Igor, and its 450,000 admissions. These two films make a fine duo representing French animated productions in Mexico.

Don't look back has attracted 120,000 admissions in Russia. The film by Marina de Van thus ranks in 4th position for French-language films in Russia in 2009, just behind Banlieue 13 - Ultimatum (270,000 admissions), The True Story of Puss'n Boots (177,000 admissions), and Largo Winch (129,000 admissions).

Dorothy Mills, a French production shot in English, has registered close to 270,000 admissions in Mexico since its launch almost three months ago. This film's fine results can be partly explained by Mexican audiences' penchant for genre films, as highlighted by the success of Les Emmurés (103,874 admissions) and À l’intérieur (77,980 admissions). The film by Anne Merlet also won over Polish audiences, attracting 80,000 spectators. Dorothy currently boasts a running total of 345,000 admissions outside France, compared to 130,000 admissions in France.

La Danse, The Paris Opera Ballet has earned fine results in the USA. Released on only one print, the film by Frederick Wiseman pulled in 6,300 spectators in its opening week and 5,400 admissions the following week, resulting in an exceptionally high per-print attendance average. The film's distributor went on to up the number of prints in circulation, and the film currently tallies 35,000 admissions.

In Russia, A Prophet registered a total of 50,000 admissions. This is a highly encouraging score in a territory in which auteur films traditionally struggle to make their mark, and inspires hope for this acclaimed film's career in the international arena. A previously successful auteur film, De battre mon coeur s’est arrêté (The Beat that My Heart Skipped), registered a total of 700,000 admissions outside France, and A Prophet A Prophet may well do even better. The film has been acquired around the world, with its UK release scheduled for January 2010.

After almost three months on the screens in Germany, Louise-Michel has attracted close to 52,000 spectators. This fine score was echoed in Italy, where the film registered 100,000 admissions. Louise Michel now tallies a total of just under 200,000 admissions in international theaters.