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INDUSTRY France

111 million admissions abroad for French films in 2014

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- In the wake of Lucy, a true force to be reckoned with, French production recorded excellent results all over the world last year

111 million admissions abroad for French films in 2014
Lucy by Luc Besson

Following the success seen by the French film industry at home (208.43 million viewers in French theatres last year), the international markets have also brought the sector some good news. Unveiled by UniFrance at the 17th Rendez-Vous with French Cinema (which draws to a close today in Paris), the provisional estimate for 2014 puts attendance levels for French films abroad at 111 million admissions (and €640 million in takings), making it the second-best result of the last 20 years, just behind the 2012 record (144 million viewers). The outcome for 2014, which is up by 119% compared to the disappointing figures for 2013, also represents the second time the annual total has exceeded the 100-million-admissions mark (the average over the past decade stands at around 80 million viewers).

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While 14 French films enticed over one million viewers into foreign theatres last year, and 70 drew in over 100,000 – figures that stand as a testament to the diversity of the French cinematic works distributed around the globe – 71% of admissions were nevertheless recorded by the five top-ranking titles, with Lucy [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile
]
proving to be the undisputed leader. With its 53.5 million admissions (grossing €302 million), Luc Besson’s movie has, incidentally, become the world’s most-seen French production in over 20 years. As is to be expected, this impressive performance by an English-language feature significantly reduced the market share of French-language films in the annual total: while admissions for them grew by 26%, they only represented 28.5% of the total. On the other hand, the percentage of majority French productions is on the rise: 82% of total admissions as against an average of 74% over the last ten years. Lastly, it is worth mentioning that last year, French films recorded 21% more admissions abroad than they did on national soil.

Bringing up the rear in Lucy’s wake, the top-ten French films abroad in 2014 include the comedy Serial (Bad) Weddings [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(6.7 million admissions), Beauty and the Beast [+see also:
trailer
making of
interview: Christophe Gans
interview: Léa Seydoux
interview: Vincent Cassel
film profile
]
(4.39 million), Grace of Monaco [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(3 million), the animated title Minuscule – Valley of the Lost Ants [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(2 million), The Family [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile
]
(1.96 million), Belle et Sébastien [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile
]
(1.8 million), Nicholas on Holiday [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(1.27 million), Superchondriac [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(1.07 million) and Yves Saint Laurent [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jalil Lespert
film profile
]
(1.02 million).

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(Translated from French)

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