13/10/2010

Today sees the massive launch on 793 French screens of the third and final episode in the adventures of Arthur and the Minimoys by Luc Besson: Arthur and the Two Worlds War [+see also:
trailer
making of
interview: Luc Besson
film profile].

After the first instalment (released in December 2006 – 6.4m admissions in France) and the second one (released at the end of last year – 3.9m admissions), which both attracted over 12m viewers internationally, EuropaCorp closes a trilogy that is unique in French production and whose combined budgets amounted to nearly €200m.

Listed on the stock market, EuropaCorp is bound by transparency obligations which create some pressure. But the French group has several aces up its sleeve, including a catalogue valued at €128m.

Moreover, Besson’s The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec [+see also:
trailer
film profile] is enjoying a successful international run, having so far amassed over 2.6m admissions across the world. Currently on screens in Spain (over €850,000 in takings in four weeks) and in Germany (where it was launched two weeks ago), the film will be released in Italy on Friday.

EuropaCorp’s upcoming productions include two English-language films currently shooting: Olivier Megaton’s Colombiana, starring Zoe Saldana; and Irish duo Stephen St.Leger and James Mather’s Lock Out, whose cast includes Maggie Grace and Guy Pearce.

Animated films on the slate include two French features in production: Bibo Bergeron’s A Monster In Paris and The Mechanics of the Heart. Finally, Besson has just announced he will make an ambitious science-fiction film next year.

French productions dominate the rest of this Wednesday’s line-up of new releases, including Gilles Paquet-Brenner’s moving film Sarah’s Key [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (see news – UGC Distribution on 328 screens); Sophie Letourneur’s highly original Chicks [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news and review – Shellac on 25 screens); and Benoît Jacquot’s intense Deep in the Woods [+see also:
trailer
film profile], unveiled on the Piazza Grande at the latest Locarno Film Festival (see news – Les Films du Losange on 64 screens).

But the critics’ favourite this week is unquestionably Belgian director Olivier Masset-Depasse’s Illegal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Olivier Masset-Depasse
film profile], which was the major discovery in this year’s Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and is a finalist for the European Parliament’s Lux Prize 2010 (distributed by Haut et Court on a 72-print run).

Finally, also hitting screens are three European documentaries: Dancing Dreams by German duo Anne Linsel and Rainer Hoffmann (Jour2fête); French director Stéphane Mercurio’s Mourir? Plutôt Crever! (“Die? I’d Rather Drop Dead!”, Parasite Distribution); and The Woman with the 5 Elephants by Switzerland’s Vadim Jendreyko (Nour Films).

(Translated from French)