French films at the international box office: May 2012

Rank	Title	Admissions	B.O. Revenues	No. of Prints	No. of Countries	Total Admissions
1	The Intouchables	1217242	7 528 125	1576	18	19 858 330
2	What's in a Name?	119843	1 056 690	52	2	175 504
3	The Players	104962	620 560	209	5	508 804
4	And If We All Lived Together	98875	659 935	169	2	315 422
5	The Artist	89543	538 391	894	13	12 735 789
6	Sister	60048	504 742	66	5	93 025
7	Love Lasts Three Years	59991	367 582	102	1	93 257
8	Houba! On the Trail of the Marsupilami	58001	556 012	48	2	359 568
9	Rust & Bone	53269	436 601	45	2	53 269
10	The First Man	52446	309 386	62	1	122 586
11	The Snows of Kilimanjaro	50241	332 498	61	3	217 016
12	Delicacy	44971	316 116	105	4	285 544
13	All Our Desires	40360	225 721	52	2	51 740
14	Farewell My Queen	39153	271 466	108	4	60 081
15	The Art of Love	38508	248 358	91	2	61 754
16	The Cherry On the Cake	37506	227 690	49	1	122 107
17	Two Days in New York	37038	304 232	91	4	58 955
18	Special Forces	35098	221 596	150	1	194 148
19	Where Do We Go Now?	31624	218 076	55	5	573 800
20	The Lady	29365	215 214	81	5	494 888

May was mainly marked by the waning career of The Intouchables in Western Europe after many months at the top of the box office and after breaking several admission records.
French-language films alone have claimed 81% of all admissions recorded since the beginning of 2012 (compared to 44% in 2010). Meanwhile, majority-French productions, caught up in the same impetus, have also increased their presence, with 84% of admissions abroad (compared to 41% in 2010).

No English-language French film with a strong international potential has managed to impose itself as the major generator of admissions. However, Taken 2's release, slated for the end of this year, may modify this situation.
The success of The Artist and The Intouchables has created a considerable windfall effect for the presence of French films in cinema theaters abroad. For example, The Players, Little White Lies and The Art of Love have all benefitted from large print releases thanks to the presence of Jean Dujardin and François Cluzet in the cast, like epiphenomena around these two large-scale success.
2012 has witnessed the launch of a few strong international careers, such as And If We All Lived Together, which has attracted high numbers of German spectators and has nearly reached 300,000 admissions. In Belgium, four French comedies released in 2012 have drawn audiences of more than 100,000 spectators - HOUBA! On the Trail of the Marsupilami, La Vérité si je mens 3, What's in a Name?, and The Players. In Italy, 5 French-languagereleased in 2012 have generated more than 100,000 admissions (The Intouchables, Little White Lies, Sarah's Key, La Cerise sur le gâteau, The First Man).

The Intouchables has now racked up 19.9 million spectators abroad and has overtaken the number realised in France. The film's run is now winding down in the main European territorities. In Germany, the film has generated 8.3 million admissions, 2.4 million admissions in Italy and Spain, 1.3 million admissions in Switzerland, nearly one million in Belgium, 700,000 in Austria, and 200,000 admissions in Portugal.
In Central and Eastern European countries, several very fine performances should be noted, such as Poland, where the film has attracted 582,000 spectators in 9 weeks, being the 5th best performance of a French film recorded in this territory since the beginning of 2000. It is also making its mark in Croatia, with 44,000 spectateurs to date after its 5th week on cinema screens, being the 6th best performance for a French-language film in this territory since the beginning of 2000. In Russia, it has clocked up 175,000 admissions in 4 weeks, entirely decent results for the Russian region, although, it must be admitted, below what the film's Russian distributor had hoped for.
Across the Atlantic, its North American career is well underway. In its opening week, it registered a good average of $42,000 dollars per theater (4 prints), being about 22,000 spectors overall. This will no doubt encourage the film's distributor to rapidly increase the number of prints in circulation. In Quebec, its success is equally lively and it is currently striding toward 300,000 spectators. Only 4 French-language films have overtaken this number since the beginning of 2000.

What's in a Name? has generated in 50,000 in French Swiss theaters after 6 weeks on the screens, being the 2nd best result recorded b a French film release in 2012 in this territory.
The film is successfully pursuing its career in Belgium. In 5 weeks it has already attracted nearly 130,000 spectators on a stable forty-print release. Four other French films released in Belgian theaters in 2011 have already crossed over the 100,000 admissions threshold before it, three of which are comedies: HOUBA! On the Trail of the Marsupilami (224,000 admissions), La Vérité si je mens 3 (138,000 admissions), and The Players (118,000 admissions), hence confirming the Belgian public's appetite for French comedies.

The Players has met with great success in Russia, where it has garnered 175,000 spectators in 4 weels, almost on par with The Intouchables in this territory. This comedy seems to have charmed Russian audiences when another comedy, L'Amour dure trois ans, failed to do so, with 60,000 spectators in 4 weeks on a 102-print run.
The Jean Dujardin/Gilles Lellouche duo has already been seen by more than 500,000 spectators abroad, of which 118,000 were in Belgium, 70,000 in Italy, 64,000 in Spain, and 33,000 in Portugal. Many more releases are planned throughout the world during 2012, including Germany, Brazil, and Japan.

Rust & Bone was released in Belgian and French Swiss theaters the same day it screened in Official Competition in Cannes on May 17. The latest film by Jacques Audiard struggles to convince Belgian audiences. After an encouraging opening week attracting 30,000 spectators, admissions slumped by 57% during its 2nd week, to total 42,000 admissions. Nevertheless, its first results have already allowed it to outdistance the performance of Audiard's previous film A Prophet, which finished its run with 37,000 admissions in this territory. In French-speaking Switzerland, it registered almost 6000 during its first 2 weeks on a relatively small 9-print release.

Farewell, My Queen has gathered 32,000 spectators in Spain in 4 weeks. It did not maintain the fine results achieved in its opening week. Its launch in Germany has been even more disappointing, with 5700 admissions tallied for 47 prints. The film has also registered low admissions in Belgium (16,000 admissions in 5 weeks) and in French-speaking Switerland (5000 admissions in 3 weeks). Villa Amalia, Benoit Jacquot's last film to have an international release, racked up 92,000 foreign spectators, of which 52,000 admissions in Spain, 15,000 in Argentina, and 11,000 in Colombia.
Farewell, My Queen may nevertheless meet with a very long career in theaters abroad. Presented during the last Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) in February this year, the film was sold to a great many territories throughout the world, including Australia, Japan, Israel, Russia, South Korea, and the United States.

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