93.1m in first six months

10/07/2007

Down 9.6% compared to the first six months of 2006, French box office figures were 93.1m admissions in the first half of 2007 according to statistics released by the Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC).

However, the trend has been offset by a busy June with 13.35m filmgoers, 12.6% more than 2006 figures. Three months of the first half of 2007 showed a rise in attendance (January, March and June) and three a fall (February, April – with 44.4% each, and May).

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A string of US blockbusters released in May and June meant stateside productions came out on top, garnering a 46.2% market share in the first half of 2007. French titles, however, have done more than resist the American wave, clocking up 44.3% admissions between January and the end of June.

Among the biggest crowdpleasers currently at the box office are Jean Becker’s Conversations with My Gardener [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see news) with 936,000 admissions after four weeks (dist. StudioCanal) and Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Cannes award winner Persepolis [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marc-Antoine Robert
interview: Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Pa…
film profile] (see Focus), which got off to a good start with 462,000 filmgoers in 10 days (Diaphana Distribution, 370 screens).

Barbet Schroeder’s documentary Terror’s Advocate [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (see article) is also having a good theatrical run, garnering just under 100,000 admissions after four weeks (Les Films du Losange).

As regards non-national European films, Sam Garbarski’s Irina Palm [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sam Garbarski
interview: Sébastien Delloye
film profile] (see Focus) has attracted 186,000 cinemagoers in eight weeks (Pyramide, still showing on 100 screens) and the phenomenal The Lives of Others [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Henckel von Donners…
interview: Ulrich Muehe
film profile] (see Focus) by German helmer Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck is in 28th position and still playing on 49 screens (Océan Films) after 22 weeks in French cinemas, with 1.46m admissions to date.