UniFrance Box Office Report: Taken 2 continues its record-breaking run.
Taken 2 currently totals 42.7 million admissions in international theaters. It continues to strengthen a winning performance that has broken French films' records abroad. Its results in around 80 foreign markets territories speak for themselves: 15.9 million admissions in North America, including 15.7 million in the USA (Fox) and 250,000 in Quebec (Fox); 10 million admissions in Asia, including 3.4 million in China (China Film Corp.), 2.3 million in South Korea (Fox), and 875,000 in the Philippines (Fox). Its release in Japan (Fox) is scheduled for January 2013. It has registered 6.7 million admissions in Western Europe (excluding France), including 3.6 million in the UK (Fox), 1 million in Germany (Universum Film), and 554,000 in Spain (Hispano Foxfilms). Added to this are 5.7 million admissions in Latin America, including 2.4 million in Mexico, close to 900,000 in Brazil (Fox), and 700,000 in Argentina (Fox). The list goes on: 1.8 million admissions in the Oceania region, including 1.6 million in Australia (Fox); 1.5 million in Central and Eastern Europe, including 570,000 in Russia (Central) and 357,000 in Poland (Monolith Films). And finally, it has scored 753,000 admissions in the Middle East, including 238,000 in the United Arab Emirates (Gulf) and 226,000 in Israel (Fox); 400,000 in Africa, including 342,000 in South Africa (Fox).
Love enjoyed a triumphant launch in Italy (Teodora), attracting 42,000 spectators on 58 prints. Attendance figures in its opening weeks are 40% higher than those of director Michael Haneke's previous film, The White Ribbon in Italy (Lucky Red – 118,000 admissions all up, released in 2009). Also released this week in Belgium (Cinéart), it has posted a decent performance, with 13,000 admissions recorded from 26 prints. Here, its opening can be compared to The White Ribbon (Cinéart – 58,000 admissions all up), although its per-print average is slightly lower. Still showing in Germany (X-Verleih), it has topped 200,000 admissions after 7 weeks, putting in the 5th best score for a French-language film in this market in 2012. It has also proved a success in Greece (Odéon), where 43,000 spectators have come out to see the film, making it the 3rd highest-scoring French-language film in Greece in 2012. Love now posts a running total of 387,000 admissions outside France.
Rust & Bone registered a good opening weekend in Britain (StudioCanal Ltd.), clocking up 42,000 spectators from 84 prints. By comparison, the previous hit film A Prophet (StudioCanal Ltd.) was credited with 60,000 admissions in its opening week, ending its UK run with 256,000 admissions, which was the best performance by a French-language film in the UK in 2010. Rust & Bone's release is set to be upped considerably next weekend, ensuring successful final results. Its score in Italy (Bim) has dropped back rapidly, attracting a meager 3,600 additional moviegoers in its 6th week, with a total of 79,000 admissions registered since its release. Admissions for Rust & Bone abroad currently stand at 348,000.
FILS DE L'AUTRE (LE) opened to encouraging results in the USA (Cohen Media), taking $177,000 in its first week (over 22,000 admissions). This is a strong performance for director Lorraine Lévy's latest film in the American market, where a number of French releases in 2012 have not found an audience in the arthouse category, such as Elles (Kino Lorber – 20,000 admissions in 16 weeks), Poliss (IFC Films – 23,000 admissions in 5 weeks), Unforgivable (Strand - 20,000 admissions in 17 weeks), and Declaration of War (Sundance Selects – 6,000 admissions in 6 weeks). The Other Son has currently registered 41,000 admissions in international markets, including 16,000 in the Benelux region (Cinéart) and 3,000 in French-speaking Switzerland (Frenetic films).
