French films at the international box office: October 2014

28 11月 2014

Lucy now ranks as the most successful French film of all time in foreign theaters, according to UniFrance Films records. This month, a string of French productions continued to build on their outstanding international achievements, while Samba made a strong debut.

Rank	Title	Admissions	Revenues	No. of Prints	No. of Countries	Total Admissions
1	Lucy	7,338,632	35,571,101 €	7,978	31	52,278,586
2	Serial (Bad) Weddings	792,642	6,065,074 €	1,264	13	5,388,713
3	Grace of Monaco	428,197	3,550,134 €	NC	3	2,853,254
4	Nicholas on Holiday	283,281	1,572,476 €	481	9	1,175,085
5	Samba	153,520	1,258,034 €	69	2	153,520
6	Sex, Love & Therapy	108,805	855,786 €	62	3	108,805
7	The Salt of the Earth	98,706	644,187 €	112	4	98,706
8	My Summer in Provence	79,475	551,441 €	178	4	158,657
9	Yves Saint Laurent	58,211	356,964 €	87	6	982,933
10	Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants	39,138	220,634 €	96	4	1,905,891
11	Le Grimoire d'Arkandias	30,648	214,540 €	33	1	30,648
12	Saint Laurent	29,755	220,057 €	162	4	34,895
13	A Blue Room	28,543	186,624 €	46	2	42,166
14	Return to Ithaca	21,413	129,688 €	64	1	21,413
15	A Promise	21,101	119,431 €	50	2	41,847
16	French Women	20,213	89,604 €	89	2	160,555
17	Bangkok, We Have a Problem!	20,045	158,125 €	21	2	20,045
18	Party Girl	19,267	94,224 €	75	3	27,045
19	Lou!	18,103	146,332 €	26	2	18,103
20	The Young and Prodigious Spivet	17,402	74,654 €	238	2	299,312

In the month of October, 2014, 6 French films succeeded in attracting more than 100,000 spectators in international theaters, further strengthening French cinema's already excellent results for this year.

This month, Beauty and the Beast won over Japanese audiences, while Serial (Bad) Weddings extended its international success to Asian markets and Samba enjoyed a successful launch in French-language markets. As for Luc Besson's latest film Lucy, this smash hit has set a brand new attendance record according to data collected by UniFrance Films…

Victory!
Lucy has crossed the 50 million admissions mark outside France and now ranks as the most successful French film of all time in international markets. The latest offering from Luc Besson has broken the record that was set only two years ago by Taken 2, another EuropaCorp production, which registered 47.8 million admissions in over 80 markets. After being released in around 60 markets since July, Lucy has attracted more than 1 million spectators in a dozen of these markets, notably in the アメリカ合衆国 and English-speaking Canada (15.7 million), Mexico (3.5 million), ロシア (3.4 million), and 大韓民国 (2 million), where it was distributed by Universal Pictures.

At the end of October, it registered a spectacular debut in 中国 (Fundamental), raking in 6 million spectators in 10 days, released on 6,000 screens, which also sets a new record for the number of prints of a French film released abroad. This outstanding performance contributed to Lucy's overall score of 52 million admissions in foreign theaters by the end of October, representing close to €300 million in box office revenues.

This is an all-time high according to UniFrance Films statistics, and not only in terms of results in theaters outside France, but also on a worldwide scale: if we add the 5.2 million admissions registered in French theaters, Lucy is credited with over 57 million admissions around the world at the end of October. These results outshine those of the French-language hit, The Intouchables, which clocked up close to 52 million admissions (19.5 million in France and 32 million in foreign theaters). This marks a big success for EuropaCorp and Luc Besson, whose latest film now joins the ranks of フィフス・エレメント as one of the Top 3 French films outside France, according to UniFrance Films.

Beauty and the Beast enjoyed a spectacular launch in 日本. Released on 155 screens by Gaga Corporation, it attracted 186,000 spectators in just 3 days. This fine performance, which allowed it to jump to 3rd place at the box office, was bolstered by its extensive promotional campaign and the presence of Léa Seydoux and Christophe Gans in 日本. Two other factors linked to the exhibition sector in Japan also contributed to these results: a concession rate applied to tickets on the film's opening day as well as the timing of its release over a long week-end including a public holiday, thus extending its opening weekend. At the end of October, Beauty and the Beast posted a total of 3.7 million admissions in 24 international markets. French films are enjoying a successful year in 日本 in 2014, with over 1.6 million admissions registered at the end of October, including 775,000 for Lucy (Toho-Towa Company), over 400,000 for Grace of Monaco (Gaga Corporation), 100,000 for Yves Saint Laurent (Kadokawa Corporation), and just under 90,000 for On the Way to School (Kino Films - Kinoshita Management Co.Ltd).

Samba has had a triumphant international launch, starting off by winning over audiences in French-speaking European markets. In ベルギー (Belga Films), this new film by Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache hit the screens on 49 prints and pulled in 44,000 spectators in its opening week. It is now sitting in 5th place in the weekly box office charts and boasts an excellent average of spectators per print. By the end of October, it tallied just under 90,000 admissions in Belgium. In French-speaking Switzerland, Frenetic Films released Samba on 18 prints, and it pulled in 14,000 admissions in its opening week, ranking in 2nd place in the local charts. With over 25,000 admissions to its credit at the end of October, this film has proved a successful operation for its distributor, who was also behind the Swiss release of Serial (Bad) Weddings this year (195,000 admissions in French-speaking Switzerland and 180,000 in German-speaking Switzerland at the end of October). Samba is scheduled for release before the end of the year in 日本 (Gaga Corporation) and ロシア (Top Film Distribution), and will hit theaters in ドイツ (Senator Filmverleih) and スペイン (A Contracorriente Films), among other countries, in 2015.

Serial (Bad) Weddings has topped 5 million admissions abroad! Now joining the ranks of the Top 20 most successful French-language productions in foreign theaters since 2000, this film by Philippe de Chauveron continues its international run, currently heading into Asia. In 大韓民国, its distributor Bloomage Co., who were behind the release of The Intouchables (1.7 million admissions), have offered the film an ambitious launch on 343 screens. It registered 106,000 admissions on its opening weekend (including more than 20,000 admissions to preview screenings), which is a remarkable achievement in this market. By the end of October, the film had already charmed more than 170,000 South Korean moviegoers. In ドイツ (Neue Visionen Filmverleih), Serial (Bad) Weddings is holding strong at the top of the annual charts, including films of all nationalities, currently posting a total of 3.4 million admissions.

Other outstanding releases in October 2014: