French Film sales to North America climb 35.2% to $80 million

French Film Exports Reach a 10-Year Record With $282 Million in 2012 | Variety

Powered by Gaumont’s “The Intouchables” (pictured above),EuropaCorp’s “Taken 2″ and Wild Bunch’s Oscar-winning “The Artist,” French film sales scored €211.3 million  ($282.2 million)  in 2012, a 34.9% year-on hike and a 10-year record.  Figures were compiled by the National Film Board (CNC), in collaboration with the ADEF (Assn. of French Sales Agents) and IFCIC.

While film sales surged, the overseas box office of French pics also skyrocketed by 93.8% to 144.1 million admissions, of which 70.6% were garnered by the top five movies.  Yet, while “Intouchables” and “The Artist” sold a combined 45 million tickets in 2012, a flurry of other French-language films – notably Wild Bunch’s “Asterix and Obelix: God Save Britannia,” EuropaCorp’s toon “Monster in Paris” and Les Films du Losange’s “Amour” — sold 20 million theater admissions. “Taken 2,” meanwhile, attracted 47.3 million moviegoers outside France.