17/07/2002 - A mere 154 copies of the French film, by François Ozon, 8 Women brought an audience of more than 150,000 to the film in a single week

Unifrance announced the instant success in Germany of 8 Women by French director, François Ozon. Performed by French actresses Catherine Deneuve, Fanny Ardant, Isabelle Huppert and Emmanuelle Béart the film has been released on July 11, and has already secured third place at the box-office in its first week. In spite of the fact that only a modest number of copies were made (154), the film drew in 150,000 viewers in a single week. Averaging spectators per copy gives this film three times more viewers (per copy) than the two films currently leading at the box office, Lilo & Stitch and Spiderman.
The film's release was organized and distributed by Constantin, which bought the rights from Celluloid Dreams after the film's triumph at the official showing at the Berlin Festival last year. The distribution strategy was inspired by the success last summer of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Amelie, which attracted 2.9 million moviegoers in Germany and even today occupies the 21st place in the box-office. After the excellent initial results for 8 Women, French cinema can boast a significant presence in German cinemas with 720,000 viewers for Travelling Birds and 180,000 for Tanguy.

(Translated from French)