French films at the international box office: May 2011

15 JUNE 2011

In the period from June 2010 to May 2011, French films registered a decline of 18% in attendance abroad, although France still remains Europe’s leading exporter of film product.

Rank	Title	Admissions	B.O. Revenues	No. of Prints	No. of Countries	Total Admissions
1	Unknown	589,523	3,524,761	533	13	11,624,124
2	Potiche	166,810	1,078,816	316	6	1,207,534
3	Pina (3D)	119,952	897,601	61	6	262,721
4	Incendies	118,350	664,549	103	6	361,921
5	Arthur and the War of the Two Worlds	118,304	719,165	321	4	929,174
6	The Kid with a Bike	64,698	371,227	83	2	64,698
7	Of Gods and Men	59,792	332,390	137	5	1,878,832
8	The Name of Love	54,835	371,977	86	4	193,810
9	Lily Sometimes	41,522	269,664	41	1	45,765
10	The Well Digger's Daughter	28,428	210,354	29	2	57,629
11	Little White Lies	27,212	166,104	18	3	372,409
12	Yves Saint Laurent - Pierre Bergé, l'amour fou	26,113	148,038	20	2	52,904
13	Titeuf, le film	25,746	248,291	35	2	90,195
14	The Princess of Montpensier	20,454	115,721	26	2	118,305
15	Nothing to Declare	18,789	140,209	53	4	1,260,925
16	Certified Copy	18,741	105,941	50	3	524,959
17	Angèle et Tony	18,552	102,454	27	1	31,729
18	The Conquest	17,957	149,737	31	3	17,957
19	Route Irish	17,059	94,274	51	2	71,067
20	Babies	16,316	125,494	69	2	1,189,644

Whereas over the first 5 months of 2010, 7 French films attracted over 1 million spectators abroad, only 3 films managed this feat in 2011. This difference is notably due to the absence of big budget commercial titles in this period.

Potiche by François Ozon continues its triumphant international run with admissions currently totaling 1.2 million outside France. The film crossed the 400,000 spectators mark in Germany, ranking as the most successful French majority title in 2011 in this territory. It has also topped the charts in German-speaking Switzerland, where it clocked up 42,000 admissions on 10 prints. In the USA, it raked in 1 million euros, registering 190,000 admissions. Results are also encouraging in Quebec after 3 weeks on the screens, with a total of 44,000 admissions. This is the 4th best score for a French film in this territory in 2011, with the film standing a good chance of reaching 70,000 admissions by the end of its run.

Little White Lies posts a running total of 372,000 admissions abroad. It is still showing in the UK, where it has already amassed 88,000 spectators, the best performance for a French majority production released in 2011. Only 5 French majority productions released in 2010 surpassed this score, including Of Gods and Men, which ended its UK run with 129,000 admissions. The film also sets a new record for the longest run for a French film released in this territory in 2010, after remaining on the screens for 22 weeks. This is 4 weeks more than A Prophet, a film that nonetheless attracted higher attendance in the UK (256,000 admissions) due to a stronger opening and a larger number of prints in circulation.
After a 7-week run in Belgian theaters, La Fille du Puisatier drew 44,000 spectators; it also totaled 13,000 admissions in French-speaking Switzerland. This is a modest performance for this remake of the Marcel Pagnol classic from 1940.

Documentaries are not traditionally an easy genre to export. Aside from highly successful French wildlife documentaries such as March of the Penguins and Oceans, these films generally struggle to make their mark. Babies proves an exception to the rule, after attracting close to 1.2 million spectators around the world. It is currently continuing its run in Spain (totaling 21,000 admissions) and New Zealand (totaling 8,400 admissions). America, however, remains the land of promise for documentaries. Babies and L’Amour Fou both scored well in the USA, with 960,000 and 26,000 admissions respectively, their best performance abroad to date.