15/07/2015 - Wild Bunch is releasing Gaspar Noé’s sexual film in 34 theatres, while the excellent Spanish thriller Marshland is also hitting screens

While a great many European countries are drastically reducing the number of new releases arriving in theatres at the height of the summer period, France is clearly an exception, as it is adding 11 new titles to cinema listings today. Among them is a movie that has been attracting a lot of media attention: the 3D film Love [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Gaspar Noé, which was revealed at Cannes during a much-hyped Midnight Screening (read the review). It is being distributed by Wild Bunch in 34 theatres, and a ban is in place to stop it from being shown to under-16s, with a warning also plastered on it. Another chapter in the tumultuous and controversial career of the man behind Irréversible and Enter the Void [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile].

French film production is also making its presence felt today with Le Combat ordinaire [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Laurent Tuel (read the article), which banks on Nicolas Duvauchelle in the lead role of this adaptation of a cult comic book by Manu Larcenet (distributed by Haut et Court in 149 theatres), and After the Fight [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the feature debut by Simon Leclère (read the article), starring Solène Rigot and Paul Bartel (Jour2Fête in ten cinemas).

Non-French European cinema is particularly prominent today, especially with the very popular thriller Marshland [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alberto Rodríguez
film profile] by Spanish director Alberto Rodriguez (read the review and the interview with the director). Having won two awards at San Sebastian last year (Best Actor and Best Cinematography) and been the big winner at the 2015 Goya Awards, with ten trophies (including Best Film), the feature is now being launched across 83 screens, courtesy of Le Pacte.

European film production is also represented by The Invisible Boy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Gabriele Salvatores
film profile] by Italy’s Gabriele Salvatores, which received ten nominations at the recent David di Donatello Awards (read the review and the interview with the director – distributed by Bellissima in 51 theatres), the German feature Der Samurai [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Till Kleinert (unveiled at Berlin last year in the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section – Zootrope Films in 13 cinemas), Boys [+see also:
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interview: Jonas Smulders
film profile] by Dutch director Mischa Kamp (KMBO across seven screens) and the UK-US co-production Woman in Gold [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Simon Curtis, which is toplined by Helen Mirren and was revealed this year at Berlin, at a gala screening (read the review – distributed by SND in 178 theatres).

At the box office, the US animated blockbuster Minions (co-directed by France’s Pierre Coffin and created by the Paris-based team at Illumination Mac Guff, with backing from the international tax credit managed by the CNC – distributed by Universal in 837 cinemas) has been a smash hit in its opening week, reaching 1.76 million admissions in five days, while the French comedy Serial Teachers 2 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] has taken 1.66 million admissions over 12 days of exhibition (UGC across 798 screens). Lastly of note is the remarkable run that Mustang [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Deniz Gamze Ergüven
film profile] by Turkish director Deniz Gamze Ergüven is experiencing, as it has smashed through the 250,000-admission mark in 26 days and has only lost 26% in attendance levels in its fourth week (Ad Vitam Distribution in 255 theatres).

(Translated from French)