Bond and Public Enemy hit targets

by Fabien Lemercier

04/11/2008 - US/UK co-production Quantum of Solace [trailer] by Swiss director Marc Forster has got off to a dazzling start in French theatres. Launched by Sony Pictures on 787 screens, the latest James Bond has attracted 1.3m viewers in three days (and €7.64m at the box office).

French films are also performing well. Jean-Francois Richet’s Public Enemy Number One (Part 1) [trailer] has garnered 1.23m admissions (€7.27m) since its release 12 days ago by Pathé on 491 screens. Pascal Thomas’ Le crime est notre affaire [trailer] (“Crime is Our Business”) has also benefited from word-of-mouth publicity, drawing 808,000 viewers in three weeks on release (StudioCanal - 365 screens).

Laurent Cantet’s Palme d’Or-winning The Class [trailer, film focus] has amassed 1.4m admissions (€8.23m) in six weeks (distribution Haut et Court). Within the same period, Christophe Barratier’s Paris 36 [trailer] has exceeded 1.2m admissions (Pathé).

Meanwhile, Antoine de Caunes’ Coluche, histoire d’un mec [trailer] (“Coluche: The Story of a Bloke”) has not performed as well as hoped (460,000 admissions in two weeks - Mars Distribution), unlike Martin Provost’s Séraphine [trailer] (275,000 viewers in four weeks - Diaphana Distribution).

Other European films currently making a splash include Woody Allen’s Spanish production Vicky Cristina Barcelona [trailer], which has exceeded 1.5m viewers in four weeks (distribution Warner). Meanwhile, Belgian director Ben Stassen’s 3D animated film Fly Me to the Moon has attracted 73,000 fans in five days (MK2 - 51 screens); and Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army – co-produced by Germany and Hungary – has garnered 338,000 admissions (distributed Universal France).

Finally, Ursula Meier’s Swiss/French/Belgian co-production Home [trailer, film focus] has achieved an impressive per-screen average, with a total of almost 31,000 viewers in five days (Diaphana - 55 screens).

(Translated from French)