International box office results for French films: July & August, 2010

Rank	Title	Admissions	B.O. revenues	No. of prints	No. of countries	Total admissions
1	The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec	2,291,153	9,875,516	1,618	3	2,449,469
2	Oceans	669,138	3,187,804	418	6	6,335,829
3	Splice	469,155	2,678,279	976	14	3,122,829
4	The Ghost Writer	437,475	2,698,871	454	11	6 346 518
5	The Concert	414,017	2,595,895	266	7	1,721,158
6	Heartbreaker	358,375	1,938,445	339	3	457,545
7	Solomon Kane	317,465	1,971,689	283	1	1,360,503
8	Micmacs	230,362	1,462,855	147	5	684,523
9	Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky	209,412	1,252,090	130	4	528,688
10	Little Nicholas	146,807	809,146	137	3	1,643,398
11	Gainsbourg	139,727	858,440	105	4	322,529
12	Changing Sides	110,607	502,858	64	2	429,871
13	Cell 211	104,970	334,666	123	3	279,568
14	The Hedgehog	99,138	722,443	110	4	960,811
15	Farewell	91,044	622,699	44	3	150,492
16	Leaving	89,399	607,955	52	3	313,484
17	Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One (Part 1)	80,246	428,940	50	2	1,078,705
18	Mademoiselle Chambon	79,634	521,810	62	4	156,799
19	London River	72,773	455,266	104	3	79,100
20	22 Bullets	68,533	479,052	38	2	629,328

Without a doubt, The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec was the big winner of the summer season. Attracting 2.3 million spectators in foreign theaters in a matter of weeks, Luc Besson's latest offering has stamped itself as one of the year’s breakout hits, with international admissions already outscoring those in France. It’s most impressive results to date are in China, where it pulled in 1.8 million moviegoers in three weeks. The film thus ranks as the biggest success to date for a French-language film in this territory, overtaking the previous record-holder, Les Deux Mondes (1 million admissions). In recent years, China has emerged as an increasingly important market for French films. Despite the imposed quota system, which limits the number of French films released to around five titles per year, films achieve strong results due to their wide release, with up to 1,000 prints distributed. However, these films generally remain in theaters only two weeks, after which they are replaced by Chinese films. Released by the Hong Kong distributor Domo Media, Adèle Blanc-Sec was offered a well-prepared and well-marketed release, enabling it to enjoy a more conventional distribution lasting several weeks. The film is currently on its way to crossing the 2 million admissions threshold. Adèle Blanc-Sec is also posting fine results in Japan and Russia, with 350,000 admissions and 270,000 admissions, respectively. It is slated for release this month in Spain and Germany.

After washing away everything in its path in Japan in January (over 2 million admissions), Oceans is now making a splash in South Korea, where it has registered 620,000 admissions. These results place the film by Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud in the top spot for French films in these territories this year, and it is coming very close to ranking as the number 1 French film in foreign territories. Currently clocking up 6.3 million admissions abroad, Oceans looks set to snatch this title from From Paris With Love (6.6 million admissions), thanks in particular to its large-scale release in Russia on September 9.
The Concert is close to reaching the 2 million admissions mark in foreign theaters. After attracting close to 700,000 spectators in Italy, and over 250,000 in Spain, the film by Radu Mihaileanu set out to conquer audiences in Germany. Pulling in 250,000 admissions in six weeks, it should easily top 300,000 admissions by the end of its run. The film is creating a similar stir on the other side of the globe, with a running total of more than 200,000 admissions in Japan.

Pascal Chaumeil’s film Heartbreaker continues its brilliant international career, with over 400,000 admissions to its credit after just a few weeks. Its most successful release to date is in Russia, where it attracted 180,000 spectators. It registered 130,000 admissions in the UK and 54,000 in French-speaking Switzerland on just 13 prints. After two weeks on Polish screens, the film totaled 68,000 admissions. This is a surprisingly successful score for a French romantic comedy, a genre that does not usually export well. Its success does, however, meet expectations after the buzz it received from international buyers at the film’s presentation in January.
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky has just topped 500,000 admissions abroad, outscoring its French results of 132,000 admissions. The film has achieved its best results in the USA, where it has been seen by 200,000 moviegoers. It is likely to reach 250,000 admissions in this territory alone. This is an excellent achievement, but is nonetheless a far cry from results for Coco Before Chanel, which ended its US run with close to 900,000 admissions exactly one year ago. Coco & Igor has also registered 50,000 spectators in the UK as well as in China, where it was released in June.
Mademoiselle Chambon has just reached 150,000 admissions abroad. Germany has proved the film’s most welcoming territory, with over 50,000 admissions registered in less than one month. Also showing at this time in the USA, the film by Stéphane Brizé has clocked up 40,000 admissions to date.

Just prior to hitting theaters in North America, and more than two years after its French release, the first episode in the Mesrine series (Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One Part 1) was released in Montreal, Quebec. Drawing 52,000 spectators in two weeks, with 22 prints released, the film should reach 80,000 admissions all up, thus ranking as this year’s most successful French film in this territory. Its North American performance is more than respectable, with 29,000 admissions registered from 28 prints in its opening week. The second opus in the series has just opened in these two territories.

At the center of a rich harvest of French releases in the UK this summer was Gainsbourg, which came through with flying colors, boasting a running total of 110,000 admissions. The film is running shoulder to shoulder with the other major French hit of the summer season, Heartbreaker (132,000 admissions to date).
Holding its ground with 1.5 million spectators registered abroad, Little Nicholas hit German screens August 26 to high expectations. Ten days later, the film tallied 105,000 admissions and will no doubt quickly rise to top the 200,000 mark. Full marks to the film by Laurent Tirard, which has already scored 500,000 admissions in Poland, 220,000 in Belgium, and 200,000 in South Korea.

Finally, after reigning the Greek box office for three weeks, Richard Berry’s 22 Bullets is the French hit of the summer season, with 70,000 admissions registered. This is a fine score in this market, recalling recent results in Russia, where the film pulled in an impressive 450,000 admissions.