UniFrance Films box office report: Love continues to shine on the international stage.
Love enjoyed a successful launch in Spain (released by Golem), with 37,000 admissions registered from 59 prints. These are encouraging results for the film's opening week, although not as high as those of director Michael Haneke's previous Palme d'Or winner, The White Ribbon (Golem – 46,000 admissions in its opening week), which ended its run in Spain with 283,000 admissions.
In the United States, the status quo was maintained this week, with three prints in circulation after four weeks, allowing the film to register the 3rd highest per-print average at the box office. Love has taken $381,000 in the USA to date (48,000 admissions). The number of prints will be upped next week to 15, as part of a gradual increase of the film's visibility orchestrated by its distributor Sony, aimed at keeping it on the screens until the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony. Love's performance remains strong in the Netherlands (Cinéart), with an additional 16,000 spectators registered in its 8th week and 32 prints in circulation. With a total of 138,000 admissions to its credit, it already ranks as the 7th most successful French-language production released in this market since the early 2000s. Love has registered over 1.1 million admissions in international theaters to date.
Rust & Bone boasted a promising debut in Germany (Wild Bunch), after attracting 31,000 spectators in four days, with 64 prints released, which is almost twice the admissions score registered by A Prophet (Sony) back in 2010. Director Jacques Audiard's previous film struggled to find an audience in Germany, with just 17,000 admissions registered in five weeks. Initial results for Rust & Bone raise hopes that attendance figures will reach the 150,000 mark by the end of its run. In Quebec (Metropole), the film's release has been ramped up from 3 to 17 prints, allowing it to triple its admissions score compared to last week (up from 5,000 to 15,000 spectators), with a total of 28,000 admissions recorded since it hit German theaters four weeks ago. Rust & Bone currently posts a running total of 717,000 admissions outside France.
The three hit titles of 2012 are coming to the end of their international careers:
The Artist is still showing on screens in China (China Film Corp.), topping the 100,000 admissions mark at the end of its third weekend, although the figures are falling rapidly.
The Intouchables continues its run in Finland (Scanbox), currently credited with 45,000 admissions, which ranks as the 7th best performance by a French-language production since the early 2000s. It has reached 120,000 admissions in Norway (Scanbox), which is the 4th best score registered by a French-language film in this market since 2000. At the end of its 11th week in New Zealand (Roadshow), The Intouchables has registered 96,000 admissions, which marks the best performance of all time for a French-language film since uniFrance Films began monitoring French releases in this market. The film notably remained in the top 10 at the New Zealand box office for nine weeks.
Taken 2 pursues its tour of North America (Fox), with 17.4 million admissions clocked up in 15 weeks. It is slated for release in Japan (Fox) next week, with a promising 288 prints to hit the screens.
