Europe holds its own

by Fabien Lemercier

18/06/2009 - Several non-domestic European productions are currently doing well in French theatres and are enjoying lasting success thanks to the generous print-runs released by their Gallic distributors.

This string of successes is led by Danish director Niels Arden Oplev’s Swedish production The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [trailer, film focus], which continues to perform well. The film, which has garnered 1.1m admissions in five weeks on release (€6.47m in takings), saw a drop of just 29% in the last seven days, as its print-run was reduced by UGC Distribution from 509 to 426.

Meanwhile, Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar’s Broken Embraces [trailer, film focus] has drawn 723,000 viewers (grossing €4.25m) in four weeks on release (Pathé Distribution - 398 screens); UK filmmaker Ken Loach’s Looking for Eric [trailer, film focus] has amassed 368,000 admissions (€2.16m) in three weeks (Diaphana - 369 screens); and Danish director Lars von Trier’s explosive Antichrist [trailer, film focus] has attracted 104,000 cinemagoers (€610,000) in two weeks (Les Films du Losange - 140 screens).

Finally, The Boat That Rocked [trailer] by UK director Richard Curtis has reached 640,000 admissions (€3.76m) after six weeks on release (StudioCanal - 170 screens).

(Translated from French)