17/10/2012 - The indomitable Gauls are back in Laurent Tirard’s 3D film, out this week in eleven countries across the Old Continent

It’s rare to see European productions massively released in cinemas across Europe in a relatively short period of time, as their distribution is at best spaced out over a few months and most often over the course of a year, or even two. The release of Laurent Titard’s Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (read more) is therefore quite an event.

Majority produced by France (Fidélité Films) with Hungary (Cinetotal KFT), Italy (Lucky Red) and Spain (Morena Films) on a budget of €61m, this fourth cinematic adaptation of the indomitable Gauls’ adventures is today released in 3D in 905 French cinemas by Wild Bunch Distribution. Also out this Wednesday in Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Denmark, the film is to be released tomorrow, Thursday, in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Greece, and Portugal, then on Friday in Finland, before Norway on October 26, Poland on November 2, Sweden on November 9, and Spain on November 30. There is still no fixed date for other releases.

Well reviewed by the French critics, this Gaulish blockbuster was piloted by producers Marc Missonnier and Olivier Delbosc: "This film is by far our biggest project. It’s the first time that Asterix is produced by an independent. Our idea was to make a "reboot", to pick up and regenerate an existing franchise by re-centering the story on the existing duo of Asterix and Obelix. All the open sea scenes were directed in Malta. Most of the outside scenes were shot in Ireland, but most of it was in Hungary.”

Director Laurent Tirard drew lessons from 3D: "While the fashion over the last 20 years has been to make increasingly quick cuts, 3D imposes exactly the opposite. Because the richness of images is such that, if you did this, you would risk giving all your viewers a splitting headache. When you shoot in 3D, you have to privilege sequence shots and the rhythm has to come from the actors’ performance."

Faced with this colossal film, counter-programmers have released several other films, including this year’s Berlinale Golden Bear winner, Caesar Must Die [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
film profile] by Italian directors Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (Bellissima Films on 41 copies) and four titles straight from the 2012 Cannes Film Festival: Moussa Touré’s The Pirogue [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Rezo Films – Studio 37 on 50 copies), Louis-Do de Lencquesaing’s In a Rush [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Pyramide on 65 copies), In Another Country (with Isabelle Huppert) from South Korea, and The Paperboy from the United States. The panorama is completed by Philippe de Pierpont’s She’s Not Crying, She’s Singing [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Perspectives Films), a film co-produced with Belgium and Luxembourg.

(Translated from French)