BOX OFFICE France
Lartigau and Canet run the show
by Fabien Lemercier
06/11/2006 - Released last Wednesday in French cinemas, two local features – Prête-moi ta main [trailer] by Eric Lartigau and Tell No One [trailer] by Guillaume Canet – got off to an excellent start at the box office, to become the fifth and eighth most popular releases respectively of 2006.
Starring Alain Chabat and Charlotte Gainsbourg, the third feature by Lartigau (Bullit & Ripper, A Ticket to Space) drew 281,839 filmgoers on its first day of release on 471 screens through Mars Distribution.
The comedy, which was also produced by Chabat and his company Chez Wam, is about an elderly bachelor harassed by his mother and five sisters who are eager to get him married and hire the services of a young woman to simulate a relationship that falls apart at the last minute.
Another surprise hit is Tell No One [trailer], the second feature by actor Canet after Whatever You Say. A Les Productions du Trésor film, this adaptation of US author Harlan Coben’s thriller – a genre rarely dealt with by young French directors – features a star-studded cast in François Cluzet, Nathalie Baye, Marie-José Croze, Kristin Scott-Thomas, André Dussollier, Jean Rochefort, François Berléand and Marina Hands.
The film garnered 205,000 admissions on its first day of release on 434 screens through EuropaCorp. Distribution.
European cinema is also the flavour of the week in French cinemas with UK production Scoop [trailer] by Woody Allen in third place (286 screens, TFM Distribution ), followed by the Spanish co-production Pan’s Labyrinth [trailer] by Guillermo del Toro (see article), released on 203 screens through Wild Bunch Distribution.
Arthouse cinema is not far behind with French/Belgian/UK co-production Lady Chatterley [trailer] by Pascale Ferran (see article) in third place, a film highly acclaimed by critics and on release on 75 screens through Ad Vitam.
(Translated from French)
