Mars Distribution launches Potiche on 440-print run

by Fabien Lemercier

10/11/2010 - Lavishly praised by critics and carried by an outstanding performance from Catherine Deneuve, François Ozon’s Potiche [trailer], which was unveiled in competition at this year’s Venice Mostra (see review), is being released in theatres today by Mars Distribution on a generous 440-print run.

This release arrives at a prosperous time for domestic films, which are hogging the top spots at the box office, particularly three titles distributed by EuropaCorp: Guillaume Canet’s Little White Lies [trailer] (almost 3.5m admissions in 20 days on release); Luc Besson’s Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds [trailer] (2.65m viewers in almost four weeks on release); and Eric Lartigau’s The Big Picture [trailer], which has got off to a good start with 380,000 admissions in five days. Also doing well are Bertrand Tavernier’s The Princess of Montpensier [trailer] (235,000 viewers in five days – distribution: StudioCanal) and Xavier Beauvois’s unstoppable Of Gods and Men [trailer, film focus] (2.8m admissions in nine weeks – Mars Distribution).

Standing out among this Wednesday’s other new French releases is Quentin Dupieux’s phenomenal film Rubber [trailer] (see news), which centres on a psychopathic tyre and is shot using a digital camera. Showcased at the latest Cannes Critics’ Week and Locarno, the film – which has sold very well internationally – is being launched by UFO Distribution on 25 screens.

Another title arrives straight from Cannes Critics’ Week: Dear Prudence [trailer] by Rebecca Zlotowski (see video interview and review), starring Léa Seydoux. It is being released by Pyramide Distribution on 52 screens.

The panorama of European releases is rounded off with Austrian director Benjamin Heisenberg’s thrilling film The Robber [trailer, film focus] (acclaimed in competition at Berlin – ASC Distribution on 12 screens); Draft Dodgers [trailer, film focus] by Luxembourg’s Nicolas Steil (Albany Films Distribution); and three French documentaries: Ilan Klipper and Virgin Vernier’s Commissariat (“Police Station”), Jean-Paul Jaud’s Severn, La Voix de Nos Enfants (“Severn, The Voice of Our Children”) and Agnès Fouilleux’s Small Is Beautiful.

(Translated from French)