Summer of Success for French Cinema

BonDieu.jpg

Even though we don’t see much evidence of it here in Ireland, it has been a successful summer for French cinema abroad so far

The two main standard-bearers this year are “Lucy” by Luc Besson and “Qu’est-ce qu’on a fait au Bon Dieu?” (What in the name of God have I done?).

The former is a result of veteran producer/director Luc Besson’s stable of English-language films using big American stars. Previous successes have included “Taken” and “The Fifth Element”. The action film stars Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman and went to the top of the American box-office on its release with over $44 million in receipts during its first week. This figure climbed up to $58 million in six days and to $79.6 million in its first week. It was an impressive performance, even if another big-budget film involving things exploding surpassed it afterwards (Guardians of the Galaxy, which took in $94 million on it first weekend). “Lucy” remains the second most successful French film in the USA after “Taken”.

The German public, meanwhile, seems to have developed a taste for the more recognisable form of French film. Philippe de Chauveron’s comedy “Qu’est-ce qu’on a fait au Bon Dieu?”, starring Christian Clavier had 155,000 viewers on its first weekend; a figure that rose to 300,000 bums on seats after a week in German cinemas, according to UniFrance – the French cinematic industry’s marketing organisation. By comparison, the film “Intouchables” – the most successful film ever in Germany – attracted an audience of 330,000 in its first week in the same country. The film has also been released in Belgium (over 220,000 punters), Switzerland (170,000) and Greece (54,000) and has been seen by 860,000 people outside of France so far.

scroll to top

We use cookies on this website primarily to improve its functionality. Along with typical standard cookies, we also use cookies and content from Google (maps, YouTube, FaceBook, Twitter) to improve the performance of this site. In order to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Requirements, all cookies and content from Google, Twitter, Facebook and co. are deactivated by default. They will only be activated once you click "Accept" to allow the use of cookies and third-party content. If you initially choose not to accept cookies, you will not be able to watch videos or access other media content on this site. However, you can change this setting on any page containing third-party media by selecting the option to allow content. On the Privacy Policy page under “Cookies” you have the option to give or revoke your consent to the use of cookies. For more information please click the link below to read our: Privacy Policy

The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.

Close