EuropaCorp was France’s top film exporter in 2017 in terms of the international box office achieved by French majority and minority French productions on its slate, the country’s cinema export agency UniFrance has revealed.
According to a report by the body looking at preliminary figures for the 2017 international box office, titles on the EuropaCorp sales slate - led by Luc Besson’s sci-fi tale Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets - achieved some 31.4m admissions worldwide in 2017.
EuropaCorp also topped the international box office chart for majority French productions as well as for the best performing producers.
In the backdrop, however, the Unifrance figures come amid a difficult time for the company as it retrenches due to the overall poor performance of the big budget Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets in relation to its past English-language productions aimed at global audiences such as Lucy and Taken 3, which drew some 54 million and 43.6 million spectators respectively.
Gaumont, SND take second and third place
In the chart combining majority and minority productions, Gaumont came in second with 14.02m entries, generated mainly by family animation Ballerina, World War Two drama A Bag Of Marbles and Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano’s wedding reception comedy C’est La Vie!.
SND Group followed with 6.83 international admissions, thanks in large part to Omar Sy-starring comedy drama Two Is A Family and children’s animation The Jungle Bunch: The Movie.
Auteur cinema
Wild Bunch held on to its traditional position of top sales agent for independent auteur fare in terms of international box office, with its titles – led by Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake, breakout genre hit Raw and feature animation The Red Turtle – generating 2.6m admissions.
The other top sales agent for auteur cinema was Playtime (formerly Films Distribution) which saw its recent slate – led by François Ozon’s World War One drama Frantz and erotic thriller Amant Double as well as Raoul Peck’s political costume drama The Young Karl Marx - draw 1.7m spectators internationally in 2017.
Teaser
UniFrance released the top 10 charts as a teaser for its full report on the international box office for French cinema in 2017 which will be unveiled on Jan 19 during the upcoming Rendez-vous With French Cinema in Paris (18-22).
On the basis of these preliminary figures, covering the period up to Dec 15, French productions appear to have done better internationally in 2017 than in 2016, which saw the international box office slump by some 70% to 34m admissions, against 111m in 2015.
Top 10 Exporters – majority and minority French productions (company, admissions, top titles)
1. EuropaCorp, 31.4m (Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets, Miss Sloane)
2. Gaumont, 14.02m (Ballerina, A Bag Of Marbles, C’est La Vie!)
3. SND, 6.83m (Two Is A Family, The Jungle Bunch: The Movie, A Bras Ouverts)
4. Wild Bunch, 2.6m (I, Daniel Blake, Raw, The Red Turtle)
5. Kinology, 1.88m (Overdrive, Mune, Planetarium)
6. Playtime (formerly Films Distribution), 1.70m (Frantz, Amant Double, The Young Karl Marx)
7. TF1 Studio, 1.48m (Penny Pincher!,Alibi.com, He Even Has Your Eyes)
8. Pathé International, 1.37m (R.A.I.D Special Unit, Dalida, Rock’n Roll)
9. Studiocanal, 1.32m (Back To Burgundy, From The Land Of The Moon, Marry Me Dude)
10. Memento Films International, 1.28m (Mr Stein Goes Online, The Midwife, Call Me By Your Name)
Top 10 production companies – minority and majority French productions (company, admissions, top titles)
1. EuropaCorp, 31.4m (Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets, Miss Sloane, Renegades)
2. Vendôme Production, 4.72m (Two Is A Family, In & Out)
3. Kinology (Overdrive Productions), 1.68m (Overdrive)
4. Mandarin Production, 1.44m (Frantz, Amant Double, Agnus Dei)
5. Curiosa Film, 1.15m (The Midwife , The Odyssey, The African Doctor)
6. CG Cinéma, 1.14m (Personal Shopper, Lost In Paris, Things To Come)
7. TAT Productions, 1.10m (The Jungle Bunch: The Movie)
8. SBS Productions, 940,000 (Elle, In The Shadow Of Woman)
9. Spendido Quad Cinema, 540,000 (A Bag Of Marbles, C’est La Vie!, The Cow
10. Jerico, 520,000 (Penny Pincher!)
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