email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

INDUSTRY France

French films took 106 million admissions abroad in 2015

by 

- Asia has become the principal zone for French film exports, ahead of Western Europe and Latin America

French films took 106 million admissions abroad in 2015
Taken 3 by Olivier Megaton

For the third time in four years, French films have racked up more than 100 million viewers overseas, in addition to the third-best score for 20 years, having drawn in 106 million viewers in other countries in 2015 (raking in €600 million in takings), according to the evaluation unveiled by UniFrance at the 18th Rendez-Vous with French Cinema in Paris, which will draw to a close today. Down slightly by 12% compared to the previous year, this outcome is the result of the great performances exhibited by a huge variety of genres, ranging from English-language action films (Taken 3, The Transporter Legacy [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile
]
) to pure comedy or comedy-drama (The Bélier Family [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile
]
, Serial (Bad) Weddings [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Samba [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), via animation (The Little Prince [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile
]
, Mune [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, Asterix: The Land of the Gods [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile
]
) and fantasy (Beauty and the Beast [+see also:
trailer
making of
interview: Christophe Gans
interview: Léa Seydoux
interview: Vincent Cassel
film profile
]
). Also of note is the solid 22% increase to 42.6 million admissions for French-language films.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Asia has become the principal zone for the export of French films, with 28.9 million admissions (including 14.7 million in China, 3.5 million in Japan and 2.2 million in Korea), ahead of Western Europe, with 25.6 million viewers (Italy is a particularly strong market, with 5.2 million admissions, Germany fell rather dramatically to 4.7 million, and the United Kingdom remains very difficult to access), Latin America, with a record 22.3 million admissions (including peaks in Mexico with 9.4 million, Brazil with 5.3 million and Colombia with 2.4 million), North America with 15.4 million admissions in the absence of a huge blockbuster, like Lucy [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile
]
had been the previous year (nevertheless, it is interesting to note the very impressive performance of works such as Clouds of Sils Maria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Charles Gillibert
interview: Olivier Assayas
film profile
]
and Timbuktu [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
), Central and Eastern Europe (9.4 million viewers, including 2.7 million in Poland and a general partiality for English-language French films and animated features) and Oceania (2 million tickets sold).

The animation sector is particularly prominent, boasting 20% of the overall admissions recorded by French productions around the world last year. This energy and vigour is symbolised by the presence of five French schools in the top ten on the list of the world’s 100 best animation institutions published by the ACR (Animation Career Review), which is topped by the Paris-based Gobelins school. This excellence also earned the producers of The Little Prince (Aton Soumache and Dimitri Rassam) the first French Cinema Award given out by UniFrance, which was handed over at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in front of an audience comprising international journalists and in the presence of Minister Laurent Fabius.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

(Translated from French)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy