Les bronzés 3’s sunny disposition

14/02/2006

With 5.8m admissions in 12 days and over €34m grossed, Les bronzés 3, amis pour la vie [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Patrice Leconte brings the colour back to the cheeks of the French box office. Following January’s total of 14.34m spectators (an 0.2% increase compared to January 2005), French admissions have enjoyed a return to form since the film’s release on February 1. Les bronzés 3 has broken the record for best opening week of all time in France, with 3.9m admissions compared to the 3.6m garnered by Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra in 2002. Thanks to the Warner distributed film, the box office registered a 135% leap between February 1 – 7, 2006, as compared to February 2005, and the rise has continued since then with the increase now at 60%.

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Of the film’s star-laded cast (which includes Christian Clavier, Gérard Jugnot, Thierry Lhermitte, Josiane Balasko and Anne-Marie Chazel), Michel Blanc stands out in the early part of this year, also for his turn in Je vous trouve très beau [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (lit. "I Think You Are Very Beautiful") , a Gaumont production directed by Isabelle Mergault, which reached a total of 1.6m admissions in four weeks in theatres.

As for non-domestic European production, it is worth noting the numbers obtained by UK film Pride and Prejudice [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Joe Wright, which attracted 347,000 French spectators in three weeks (released on 210 screens by Mars Distribution, dropping to 95, then to 85), compared with the 184,000 admissions over four weeks for Mrs. Henderson Presents by Stephen Frears (Pathé Distribution – first 85, then 95 then, for the fourth week, back to 85 screens) and the 571,000 admissions over six weeks for UK/Germany/Kenya co-production The Constant Gardener by Fernando Meirelles (Mars Distribution). Lastly, Christian Carion’s Merry Christmas [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christian Carion
interview: Christophe Rossignon
film profile], the French nominee for the 2006 Best Foreign Language Film, is still hovering around the 2m admissions mark.