18/06/2003

The six European titles that were presented at the last Cannes Film Festival and subsequently released onto a large number of French screens failed, on the whole, to enthuse local audiences. Although there were differences in their respective box office performances, the filmgoing public was clearly influenced by these films' reception at the Festival.
EuropaCorp Distribution released Gérard Krawczyk’s >, Fanfan la Tulipe [+see also:
trailer
film profile] onto 730 screens but the slating this film received from critics in Cannes made itself felt after only 1.07 million tickets were sold over a five-week period. The film did not perform as well as expected for such a huge production but it did well enough. EuropaCorp was left reeling by the huge flop of Bertrand Blier’s Les Côtelettes. The film went down like a lead balloon both in Cannes and in the 220 French theatres where it was screened for just 60,000 people over a fortnight.

François Ozon’s Swimming Pool [+see also:
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film profile] did slightly better: distributed by Mars Film, the follow-up to Ozon’s hit 8 Women [+see also:
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film profile] (seen by 3.7million people) attracted 611,000 Gallic filmgoers over four weeks. Fortunately, this result will not harm Fidélité Productions given that Swimming Pool was made with a modest budget.
Other European titles released post-Cannes included Les Films du Losange’s 21 May release onto 193 screens of Lars von Trier’s Dogville [+see also:
trailer
film profile]. Given its three-and-a-half hour running time and its affinity with the category of art and experimentation, the title garnered a respectable 270,000 tickets. Gemini Films distributed Ce jour-là by Raoul Ruiz onto 67 screens, scoring sales of 40,000 over a fortnight. Luckily Les triplettes de Belleville [+see also:
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film profile] is bound to do better: in just five days the animated feature directed by Sylvain Chomet attracted 93,000 French filmgoers for 188 screens.

(Translated from French)