French films at the international box office: February 2012


Rank	Title	Admissions	Revenues	No. of Prints	No. of Countries	Total Adms.
1	The Intouchables	4,500,780	32,918,076	1,325	6	8,867,011
2	The Artist	4,212,630	26,817,687	2,634	21	8,286,058
3	A Monster in Paris	319,484	2,199,293	523	3	849,221
4	Carnage	293,489	2,024,364	414	13	2,958,879
5	La Vérité si je mens 3	155,984	1,267,082	48	2	156,590
6	Il était une fois, une fois	58,648	411,720	27	1	58,648
7	The Well Digger's Daughter	48,776	207,373	11	2	128,078
8	Black Gold	45,808	274,990	307	5	235,291
9	Sea Rex 3D: Journey to a Prehistoric World	43,241	256,076	12	1	619,743
10	Sleepless Night	40,285	197,294	201	1	42,439
11	Sarah's Key	35,055	146,962	80	3	2,307,149
12	Where Do We Go Now?	33,675	149,634	28	1	423,308
13	Delicacy	32,370	210,449	182	2	65,748
14	Zarafa	32,305	262,961	35	2	32,305
15	Declaration of War	23,748	154,843	37	3	52,342
16	My Worst Nightmare	23,376	200,814	69	3	172,051
17	The Woman in the Fifth	20,091	141,537	31	2	21,001
18	Poliss	18,554	108,493	73	3	77,798
19	Snows of Kilimanjaro	14,973	106,304	46	4	98,380
20	Beautiful Lies	14,892	94,218	42	1	301,955

The Artist has picked up five Academy Awards and won the hearts of audiences in English-speaking countries, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. In the major international markets, Untouchable has conquered the box office in German-speaking countries and is now making a dazzling debut in Italy and Spain. Since the start of 2012, French films have generated 23 million admissions abroad. The Artist and Untouchable have together accounted for two thirds of total admissions, with the top 5 French titles so far in 2012 (which include Carnage and A Monster in Paris) pulling in 88% of foreign admissions. The start to the year has seen other French-language productions struggling to make their mark outside French-language markets, while French minority co-productions such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Le Havre have charmed audiences across a wide range of markets.
Untouchable has achieved the best performance by a French film in Germany since the 1960s. German audiences’ enthusiasm for this film has reached a point where it is still sitting at the top of the box office after eight weeks, with 6 million admissions to its credit at the end of February. This is an extraordinary triumph that has radiated out over other German-speaking territories in Europe. In Austria, it has clocked up 560,000 admissions, the best score by a French film since the early 1990s. It’s the same story in German- and French-speaking Switzerland, where it has attracted 500,000 spectators in each territory, bringing its admissions score up to the million mark. This is a major achievement in this country with a population of less than 8 million, in which only six American films have succeeded in crossing the million spectators threshold since 1995.
In southern Europe, Untouchable jumped to the top of the charts in Italy in its opening week, pulling in 366,000 spectators, with 343 prints in circulation. This should allow it to top the million admissions after just three weeks, a score that has only been accomplished in this market by two French majority films since the beginning of the decade (The Crimson Rivers, with 1.2 million admissions in 2000, and Amelie, with 1.4 million admissions in 2002). The film has also enjoyed success in Spain, with a promising opening weekend posting 202,000 admissions. In markets outside Europe, Untouchable has notably attracted 18,000 moviegoers in Lebanon. Untouchable now already boasts a running total of 8.9 million admissions in foreign theaters and is set to cross the 10 million admissions mark by mid-March.
The Artist has made French cinema history after winning five Academy Awards on February 26. This achievement has ensured the film global exposure and sparked audience curiosity across the globe. Interest in the film is stronger in English-language markets, with the UK generating 1.4 million admissions in ten weeks, the best score for a French film since the beginning of the decade and outstripping the results of the English-language French film Taken in 2008 (1.3 million admissions). After fourteen weeks in the USA, The Artist has taken $33.2 million, matching results for Amelie in 2001. On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, audiences in Australia and New Zealand have also fallen for the film’s charms, with close to 250,000 admissions registered in both markets combined after just three weeks.
Eastern Europe also posts good results for The Artist, with 211,000 spectators coming out to see the film in Russia and 35,000 in Poland after three weeks in theaters. On the screens for eleven weeks in Spain, it has won over 555,000 spectators.
The film will thus end the month of February with a score of 8.3 million admissions outside France.

A Monster in Paris continues its fine career in the UK. It registered just 11,000 additional admissions in its sixth week, but has already raked in 475,000 admissions since its release, ranking as the 11th best performance by a French majority film since the start of the decade. Featuring among the top 10 French majority productions this decade are three animated films: Arthur and the Minimoys (1.2 million admissions), The Magic Roundabout (838,000 admissions), and Igor (760,000 admissions). A Monster in Paris has got off to a flying start in Quebec, with 16,000 admissions registered in its opening week on 40 prints, rivaling the score of Arthur and the War of the Two Worlds after twelve weeks. The first episode of the series, Arthur and the Minimoys finished its run in Quebec with 201,000 admissions–the best performance registered by a French animated film since the early 1990s in this market. A Monster in Paris has already attracted 850,000 spectators since its international launch in 2011.

La Vérité si je mens 3 has registered 126,000 admissions at the end of its fourth week in Belgium, outscoring the performance of the first episode in this series, which tallied 89,000 admissions in 1997. It will, however, be more difficult to match the score of the second episode (Would I Lie to You Again?), which finished its run with 172,000 admissions in Belgium. In French-speaking Switzerland, La Vérité si je mens 3 has achieved 31,000 admissions in five weeks, and should reach 40,000 by the end of its run, results that should match up with the performance of the previous two episodes in this market.