French films at the international box office: November 2011


Rank	Title	Admissions	B.O. Revenues	No. of Prints	No. of Countries	Total Admissions
1	Carnage	486,241	3,273,316	306	5	1,093,604
2	Untouchable	322,998	2,783,190	57	3	387,173
3	My Worst Nightmare	87,450	634,984	45	2	88,540
4	The War of the Buttons (II)	66,171	429,534	165	3	130,380
5	The Artist	57,834	375,560	47	4	117,787
6	Service Entrance	57,783	363,358	102	5	452,438
7	Special Forces	34,547	184,362	260	4	88,243
8	A Monster in Paris	28,833	191,880	42	2	125,667
9	Sarah's Key	26,751	157,786	162	1	1,976,636
10	On ne choisit pas sa famille	26,096	355,949	25	2	26,258
11	The Source	25,618	179,926	23	2	25,618
12	Tomboy	12,872	71,379	24	3	100,954
13	Poliss	10,516	98,813	38	4	49,919
14	Mozart's Sister	10,264	59,939	29	2	170,282
15	Certified Copy	9,068	52,331	38	1	845,116
16	All Our Desires	7,453	55,683	18	2	7,619
17	Romantics Anonymous	7,398	42,314	27	2	248,758
18	Chicken with Plums	5,926	45,454	15	2	11,743
19	The Conquest	5,747	34,656	12	3	39,117
20	Nothing to Declare	5,594	24,150	39	3	2,087,136

Box office revenues abroad in 2011 have already topped results for 2010 by €4 million, with strong figures in major markets such as the United States and Germany, where ticket prices are high.

2011 has been marked by a shortage of French-language films with high international potential, with French-language titles registering a decline of 37% in attendance figures. These films accounted for 39% of admissions, against 58% in 2010.

This year, only Nothing to Declare crossed the 2 million admissions mark abroad, bolstered by good performances in French-language European markets. In 2010, films such as Oceans (6.8 million admissions in 2010), The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (3.7 million admissions in 2010), and The Concert (2.3 million admissions in 2010) attracted more than 2 million spectators.

It is a similar scenario for majority French productions. These productions accounted for just 51% of total admissions in 2011, against 85% last year. By contrast, 2010's two most successful French films abroad, From Paris with Love (7.8 million admissions in 2010) and The Ghost Writer (7.2 million admissions in 2010) were both majority French productions. The situation in 2011 is quite the opposite, with the two top performing titles minority French productions: Unknown (12.5 million admissions) and The Three Musketeers (8.5 million admissions).

Untouchable kicked off its international career in French-speaking territories, where it achieved excellent results. In Belgium, the film attracted 263,000 spectators after 4 weeks, ranking as the 13th most successful majority French film since the start of the decade. The film looks set to top 500,000 admissions before the year is out. In French-speaking Switzerland, it has clocked up 123,000 admissions in its 5th week in theaters. Here, it has registered the 5th highest admissions score for a majority French film this decade. Its international launch is highly promising, having already won over close to 400,000 foreign spectators. Its upcoming release is planned in over 40 international territories, including Germany in January, Spain and Italy in the spring, the USA in May, followed by Latin America and Asia.

My Worst Nightmare also registered a fine score in Belgium. Pulling in 73,000 admissions in 3 weeks, it almost rivals results for director Anne Fontaine's previous film, Coco Before Chanel after 16 weeks (76,000 admissions). In French-speaking Switzerland, the film totaled close to 15,000 admissions after five weeks, ranking as the 11th best performance for a majority French film released in Belgium in 2011.

The War of the Buttons (II) pursues its international run in Spain, where the film has struggled to find an audience. Despite an ambitious release of 145 prints in its opening week, it posted just 63,000 admissions at the end of its third week. This is a disappointing score in a country where The Chorus (Alta Films) had achieved its best attendance figures outside France in 2004, with just under 1.5 million admissions.
The War of the Buttons (II) has nonetheless managed to rank as the 9th most successful majority French production released in 2011 in Spain, behind Farewell (80,000 admissions in 10 weeks) and Nothing to Declare (91,000 admissions in 16 weeks). The film has also already attracted 60,000 spectators in Belgium and 8,000 in French-speaking Switzerland, with its release in Germany scheduled for March 2012.

For the moment, The Artist remains restricted to a low 17-print release for its first complete week in the USA. The film's distributors intend to progressively raise the number of prints in circulation in order to maintain the film in theaters until the Academy Awards ceremony in February 2012. In the meantime, it has already raked in $1.3 million at the US box office, representing more than 160,000 spectators per print. This is an encouraging debut for this film, which has already been honored at the New York Film Critics' Circle Awards and voted Best Film of 2011 by Time Magazine. After a somewhat lackluster performance in Belgium (43,000 admissions) and French-speaking Switzerland (30,000 admissions), the film now tallies 118,000 admissions abroad.

A Monster in Paris continues its international career in Belgium, where it has registered 118,000 admissions after 7 weeks. It now outscores results for Colombiana (103,000 admissions) and ranks as the 4th most successful majority French film in this market in 2011, behind L’élève Ducobu (150,000 admissions).

Mozart's Sister has been traveling the world since 2010. It currently posts a running total of 170,000 admissions abroad, which more than triples its score in France (50,000 admissions in 2010). The film is credited with 64,000 admissions in Australia, 18,000 in New Zealand, and 6,000 in Spain. It also took $453,000 in the USA, registering around 80,000 spectators after 14 weeks. It is due for upcoming release in Japan, where audiences show great enthusiasm for classical music and opera. For the record, the feature-length documentary La Danse, The Paris Opera Ballet attracted more than 80,000 spectators in Japan at the time of its release.

Boosted by excellent results in Spain, Germany, and Italy, Carnage has now crossed the million admissions threshold abroad (1.1 million admissions all up). In Spain, it clocked up 238,000 admissions in just two weeks, while it has finished its run in Germany with a total of 234,000 admissions. It was released in the USA on December 16, 2011.