26/08/2003

So far this has been a vintage year for French films in the United States. According to Selon Unifrance, the agency that promotes Gallic cinema abroad, 2003 is proving a golden year during which four films took over $2m at US box offices.

The best performing title was Le peuple migrateur by Jacques Perrin, with a truly outstanding US box office gross of $7.6m, followed by François Ozon’s Swiming Pool [+see also:
trailer
film profile], 13 prints of which scored a noteworthy $6.5m. The top four also includes L’auberge espagnole by Cédric Klapisch with its $3.8m and Patrice Leconte’s L’homme du train [+see also:
trailer
film profile] with $2.4m.

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Unifrance was eager to underscore the fact that during the 1980s, a box office take of $3m was considered to be an amazing feat, adding that in the current climate, very few foreign productions (even English-language ones) manage to break the $7m barrier.
It is since 1999 that American audiences have shown a real appreciation of Gallic productions, the most noteworthy of which being Le Pacte des Loups, which scored $11m at the US box office, Amélie [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and its $34m; The Pianist [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - $33m as well as smaller productions like Sur mes lèvres [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Irréversible.

(Translated from French)