14/11/2006

According to the latest estimates published by the Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC), the market share of French films stood at 43.7% for the first ten months of 2006, compared to 36.9% over the same period in 2005.

Hot on the heels of US films – with a 47.3% market share from January to October 2006 (49.1% in 2005) – local titles have the wind in their sails, and the beginning of November is set to reach record figures with over 60% of admissions after the hit title Prête-moi ta main [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Eric Lartigau, which drew 1.06m filmgoers in one week.

Other successful films include Guillaume Canet’s Tell No One [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (858,000 admissions in one week), the animated film Azur & Asmar [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Michel Ocelot (765,000 admissions in two weeks) and the inexhaustible Days of Glory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean Bréhat
interview: Rachid Bouchareb
film profile] by Rachid Bouchareb (see Focus) with 2.7m admissions in six weeks.

With this Olympic-like box office performance of French films, 2006 is set to be a record year. The current market share of 43.7% has not been reached since 1986 and only in 2001 did local features report over 40% annual admissions (at 41.2%). Last year, French films represented a 36.8% share of the overall market.

From January to October 2006, French films garnered 151.17m admissions or 10.4% more than for the same period in 2005. If a rhythm similar to last year’s is sustained, 2006 should record 189m filmgoers, which would make it the second best result in the past 23 years. However, the 2004 record of 195.38m admissions seems out of reach.

These positive results are marred by the worst October in ten years, with 13.38m admissions (a 9.2% decline compared to October 2005). These results re-spark the debate on the staggered release of major films, the bulk of which are distributed during the school holidays.

(Translated from French)