In January 2024, French films were represented in international theaters by over 270 titles already in distribution and over 170 new releases, registering a total of 2.6 million admissions and generating €17.0 million in ticket sales.
Anatomy of a Fall remained at the top of the monthly charts for the fourth consecutive month, bolstered by 626,000 spectators. The Three Musketeers - Milady and The Jungle Bunch: World Tour took second and third position.
Box office results for French films consolidated internationally
French films registered 2.55 million admissions and generated €17.0 million in ticket sales in foreign theaters in January. Monthly admissions were 17% higher than the previous month, with higher values than in January 2023 (2.44 million) and January 2022 (2.28 million). This is despite the fact that the number of films already in theaters and the number of new releases were both at the December level.
What remained unchanged was the name of the French film attracting the largest number of foreign viewers: for the fourth month running, Anatomy of a Fall far outstripped its rivals, buoyed by new releases and a strong return to cinemas in countries where it was already playing, thanks to multiple awards and the announcement of five Oscar nominations. 102,000 new tickets sold in スペイン took it past the 300,000 mark in total sales (Elastica, €2 million), while over 77,000 Mexican (Diamond, €0.35 million) and 76,000 Brazilian (Diamond, €0.34 million) moviegoers flocked to it during its first week of release. In January, Anatomy of a Fall continued to show on the big screen in some 30 foreign territories on five continents.
The top three rankings were rounded off by two titles, both of which attracted over 200,000 viewers outside France. The first, The Three Musketeers - Milady, attracted 106,000 in Mexico (Zima, €0.40 million) and the same number in 17 other markets, while the second, The Jungle Bunch: World Tour, attracted 124,000 in ポーランド alone (Kino Swiat, €0.57 million). While Milady has not yet followed in D'Artagnan's footsteps in Mexico (Zima, 378,000 admissions and €1.35 million in 2023), the second instalment of The Jungle Bunch saga considerably improved on the first instalment's Polish score: in the space of a single week, it accounted for more tickets sold than the first ended 2018 (Best, 47,500 and €0.15 million)!
A total of six films scored over 100,000 international admissions in January, and six were programmed by cinemas in more than 10 territories. In addition to the aforementioned Anatomy of a Fall, The Three Musketeers - Milady, and The Jungle Bunch: World Tour, Dogman, ranked in fourth position, joined this closed club, bolstered by solid ongoing runs in 中国 China Film, 444,000 admissions and €2.24 million in total) and new releases, including in Mexico (Diamond) and 大韓民国 (Atnine), both close to 45,000 tickets. The minority-French-financed production The Old Oak is also included in this group. Thanks to its successful career in ルーマニア (Ro-Image 2000, 83,000 admissions and €0.38 million in total revenues) and a success that enabled it to top the Slovenian chart the week of its launch (Karantanija, 18,000 and €0.12 million), the must-see Ladybug & Cat Noir Awakening retained its place in the top five, even though its international tour will soon be coming to an end.
The lower end of the monthly top 10 welcomed a number of new entrants: the most popular title of the Tour de Cine Francés 2023, Sugar and Stars is now being regularly programmed in Mexican cinemas (Nueva Era, 72,000 and €0.28 million in total revenues), while Open Season mobilized 20,000 Hungarian moviegoers (Prorom, €0.12 million), and Sidonie in Japan was released in イタリア three months before France (Academy Two, 32,000 and €0.20 million).
Germany, Mexico, and Spain: the top three territories in January
As usual, Europe remained the leading geographic zone for French cinema (65% of monthly admissions). The West contributed 1.1 million admissions to the monthly total, but, along with Asia, these were the only regions where admissions for French films fell compared with December 2023. In Latin America, on the other hand, attendance rose exponentially (+379% in one month). Cinemas in this zone were finally able to program some eagerly-awaited French titles, including Anatomy of a Fall. ドイツ returned to the top of the territories' ranking after July's feat, and only 4,000 admissions separated it from Mexico, which was back with a vengeance after last appearing in the top three in April 2023. Seven foreign territories offered more than 100,000 admissions each to French productions in January 2024.
Drama took the lion's share, animation progressed
In January, drama retained its title as the preferred international genre (1.28 million viewers, 50% of the monthly total), thanks to the breakthroughs of Anatomy of a Fall, Dogman, and The Old Oak (minority-French production). While comedy and animation still sat on the top three podium, it was the latter genre that benefited from renewed dynamism, posting the best monthly increase in viewers (+117%). Majority-French productions (80% of total admissions) and French-language productions (77%) continued to account for the lion's share of the month's admissions. They respectively generated 19% and 36% more admissions than in December 2023, compared with +10% for minority productions and -20% for foreign-language productions. The latter two categories were mainly driven by the success of Dogman and The Old Oak. Finally, one million admissions went to arthouse films (40% of the monthly total), led by Anatomy of a Fall and The Old Oak.
French films at international film festivals in January 2024
The latest (53rd) edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) once again provided a fine showcase for French films in all their diversity. The French selection featured both emerging and established directors, including Quentin Dupieux (Daaaaaalí!), Daniel Mann (Under a Blue Sun) and the duo Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (The Soul Eater), the latter was also presented at the Gérardmer festival a few days earlier. Numerous genres were represented, from drama to comedy, documentary to animation, biopic to genre film. The list includes Jérémie Périn's Mars Express and Kaouther Ben Hania's Four Daughters, both at Cannes, as well as Bertrand Bonello's The Beast, which had already been screened at TIFF and the Venice Film Festival , and will soon be shown at the 31st French Film Festival in Japan, organized by Unifrance. And let's not forget the world premiere of Bolero, directed by Anne Fontaine, in the presence of the film's crew.
To round off this report, we must mention that awards also went to French minority-French co-productions: Power Alley by Lillah Halla (Youth Jury Award) and The Green Border by Agnieszka Holland (Audience Award).
> This report can be downloaded in PDF format below (French version only).
> This report is based on results recorded on February 19, 2024. Since our statistics for film releases are continuously being updated, the graphics generated automatically on our website will differ from the chart featured in this article.
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Unifrance - Analyse mensuelle - Janvier 2024