Ranking of top French films by admissions around the world for the first six months of this year.
In more ways than one, this list of winning titles reflects the current diversity and vitality in French film production, which offers a blend of established names and talented newcomers, general audience productions and auteur films, dramas and documentaries.
The top two films in our charts: "Taxi 3 by Gérard Krawczyk and "Euro Pudding" (aka "The Spanish Apartment") by Cédric Klapisch, both popular hits in France, have seen their success flourish in the international circuit.
More than 3.4 million spectators have seen "Taxi 3" around the world to date. The best results were registered in Russia, where the film was released March 27 by DVD Group on 110 prints and attracted 1,255,000 spectators in less than two months. Close to 600,000 moviegoers saw the film in Japan, where it was released on 123 prints by Asmik-Ace.
"Euro Pudding" boasts over 1.2 million admissions. It came as a pleasant surprise that the film, which met with considerable success in Europe, could also make its mark in the United States. Released May 15 by Fox Searchlight, the film had taken just under $3 million at the end of June. The film follows in the footsteps of Klapisch's earlier hit film, When the Cat's Away, which had already made a stir in the USA back in 1996.
One of the unexpected triumphs of this first six months of the year has been the documentary film.
"The Travelling Birds" and "To Be and To Have" by Nicolas Philibert take out 3rd and 6th place respectively among the top 10 performers.
Two auteur films, "Irreversible" by Gaspar Noé and "The Man on the Train" by Patrice Leconte come in at 4th and 5th place. Once again it was in the United States that both these films attracted their largest audiences. "Irreversible" was released in the USA March 7 by Lion's Gate on 35 prints, and currently tallies box office takings of around $760,000.
Released May 9 by Paramount on 85 prints, "The Man on the Train" had taken $1.6 million at the end of June. The film also raked in close to £400,000 at the British box office as well as attracting 300,000 moviegoers in Italy.
As regards French films shot in a foreign language, "The Pianist" is riding high after a stream of international awards (Cesar Award for Best Actor, Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Direction, and the Palme d'Or at Cannes). The film by Roman Polanski has been released in 24 countries. Almost 10 million spectators have been swept away by the true story of Wladyslaw Szpilman.
The USA and Germany dive into the "Swimming Pool"
The international success of the film by François Ozon continues in the United States and Germany. Released on the US market July 1st by Focus Features, the film boasted a running total of $9 million at September 1st, representing around 1.5 million admissions. Initially released on 60 prints, the number had risen to 257 by mid-August. It was released in Germany August 14 in 119 theaters. Its distribution in the country is handled by Constantin Film and the first results look promising: 117,000 spectators saw the film in its first two weeks on the screens.
Great Britain takes a breath of fresh air
The Franco-Italian co-production "Respiro: Grazia's Island" by Emanuele Crialese was launched in Great Britain on August 8. Metro Tartan, who released 38 prints of the film, were no doubt delighted with its box office takings at the end of the month totaling £286,000 (€427,000).
For all further information, please contact:
Julien Gaulier: Economic Data Manager
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