UniFrance Films BO Report: The Intouchables close to reaching 16 million fans worldwide.
In another successful week on international screens, The Intouchables attracted over one million moviegoers and has now crossed the 15 million spectators threshold outside France to rank as the third most popular French-language film abroad since the early 1990s, after Amelie (23 million admissions) and The Emperor's Journey (20 million admissions).
In its 20th week in Swiss German theaters (released by Frenetic), The Intouchables has hit the top of the box office, pulling in 710,000 admissions. In Italy, where it is released by Medusa, it has topped 2 million admissions after seven weeks. The film is also credited with over 1.5 million admissions in Spain (released by A Contracorriente Films) and in South Korea (released by Bloomage Co.). A highly encouraging launch in Quebec shows close to 40,000 spectators registered in its opening week, with 42 prints released. It has continued to post fine results after two weeks in Portugal (released by Lusomundo) and in Greece (Filmtrade), where it tallies 55,000 and 40,000 admissions, respectively.
RTT was released in China (by Huaxia) on 1,300 screens, registering 360,000 admissions in four days. The film has benefited from a second wind from the East, propelling it forward after relatively modest results in other international markets, such as Belgium (46,000 admissions, released by UIP), French-speaking Switzerland (4,000 admissions, released by Frenetic), and Russia (Russian Report). Its performance is comparable to that of Paris Express (released by Panasia), which generated 680,000 admissions in China in 2011. This film's Chinese release also offered a golden opportunity to a comedy that was initially released in a reduced number of markets with only lackluster results.
The Artist sat at 7th spot at the Japanese box office in its opening week (released by Gaga), attracting just under 150,000 spectators. This is a successful launch in Japan at at time when the film's triumphant run in Europe and North America is coming to an end. It now posts a total of 11.5 million admissions abroad, including 5.6 million in the USA (Weinstein Company), 1.6 million in the UK (Entertainment Film Distributors), 753,000 in Spain (Alta Films), 586,000 in Germany (Delphi), 454,000 in Italy (Bim), and 308,000 in Russia (Volga). This is an exceptional performance which looks set to intensify with the addition of results in Asian and Latin American markets.
Houba! On the Trail of the Marsupilami has proved a smash hit in French-speaking European markets. A favorable launch in Belgium (released by Alternative) amassed 118,000 admissions from 41 prints, taking 2nd place at the box office. In French-speaking Switzerland (Pathé Films), it jumped to the top spot with 27,000 admissions from 15 prints. Alain Chabat has once again turned up trumps at the European box office, ten years after Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, which ended its run with 10.2 million admissions, including over a million in Belgium (Alternative) and almost 500,000 in Switzerland (Pathé Films).
Little White Lies has enjoyed a promising opening in Italy, attracting close to 52,000 spectators on 91 prints. Its release was cleverly orchestrated by its distributor Lucky Red, who took advantage of the recent local success of Intouchables and The Artist. These hit films have boosted the star power of François Cluzet and Jean Dujardin, both of whom appear on the Italian poster for Little White Lies. The film is currently credited with 955,000 admissions outside France.
The War of the Buttons II is struggling to make its mark in Germany (released by Delphi), with 19,000 spectators registered from an ambitious 154-print release in its opening week, resulting in a low average of 124 spectators per print. This is a disappointing launch for the film in Germany, similar to its results in Spain in 2011 (Alta Films), where it pulled in 71,000 moviegoers after ten weeks, despite a high 145-print opening. The film now totals 160,000 admissions in theaters abroad.
