03/04/2015 - The 7.33 million admissions registered by Eric Lartigau’s film put Mars at the top of the distributor rankings for the end of the first quarter of 2015

An independent distributor outstripping all the major American and French distributors (Pathé, StudioCanal, SND, Gaumont, UGC): this is what Mars Distribution managed to do in the first quarter of 2015. Led by Stéphane Célérier, the distributor’s success is largely down to the box office phenomenon of the beginning of the year: La famille Bélier [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile]. Eric Lartigau’s film totted up 7.33 million viewers in 15 weeks and was still doing well when the last weekly top 10 was published, finishing in 9th place. It was released in Italy on 26 March, where it registered close to 550,000 admissions in four days (in 225 theatres via Bim Distribuzione) and is due to be released on 16 April in the Netherlands (by Independent Films), on 24 April in Spain (by Vértigo Films), on 13 May in Denmark (by Scanbox) and on 29 May in Poland (by Monolith).

Mars Distribution also released Sino-French co-production Wolf Totem [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Jean-Jacques Annaud (which was seen by 1.2 million people in five weeks) and A Perfect Man [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Yann Gozlan (506,000 admissions in two weeks). 

Another French comedy that did well in the first quarter is Papa ou maman [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] by Martin Bourboulon (2.8 million viewers in eight weeks - Pathé Distribution). Also worth mentioning is British-French animated film Paddington [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] by Paul King (2.78 million admissions - StudioCanal) and the outstanding result achieved by Timbuktu [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Abderrahmane Sissako, which was distributed by Le Pacte and saw 1.15 million admissions in 16 weeks. 

EuropaCorp was able to rely on Taken 3 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Olivier Megaton (2.61 million viewers) and comedy Bis [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Dominique Farrugia (1.47 million admissions), Gaumont on The Connection [+see also:
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film profile] by Cédric Jimenez (1.52 million), UGC Distribution on Memories [+see also:
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film profile] by Jean-Paul Rouve (1.03 million) and Wild Bunch Distribution on Do Not Disturb [+see also:
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film profile] by Patrice Leconte (1 million).

Turning to non-French European films, those that stand out are British film Kingsman: The Secret Service [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Matthew Vaughn (1.58 million viewers in six weeks – distributed by Twentieth Century Fox), British-American co-production The Imitation Game [+see also:
film review
trailer
making of
film profile] by Norwegian director Morten Tyldum (1 million admissions - StudioCanal), German animation Maya the Bee Movie [+see also:
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film profile] by Alexs Stadermann (958,000 admissions – distributed by La Belle Company) and Argentinian-Spanish co-production Wild Tales [+see also:
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film profile] by Damian Szifron (501,000 admissions - Warner).

(Translated from French)