What were the hits of the summer? It’s time to consider the summer movie angle! While cinemas are getting ready to deal with many anticipated new releases (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, then Joker 2 or Gladiator 2…), it’s time to analyze.
Some figures and reminders as a preamble:
– Two French films appeared in the top 10
– Two films have the name of Pierre Nin in the cast, who achieves here his two best box office scores of his entire career.
– There are two animated films in the top 5
– and like every summer now, there are many franchises for several original films
– Let’s not forget: the summer of 2024 will remain atypical for several reasons. The holding of the Paris Games, which had a strong impact on the volume of new releases in cinemas, and the 2023 screenwriters’ strike, the impact of which was very visible this summer.
A good start to the season
The summer started well, until the soft underbelly of the Paris Games: riding the momentum of Un P’tit truc en plus, the unwavering leader of the summer and the year (see below), there were plenty of spectators. Film festival held at the end of June.
Once The Count of Monte Cristo and Versus 2 hit theaters in June, the public was there and word of mouth allowed the two films to continue that good momentum.
What is the biggest surprise of the summer?
The Count of Monte Cristo created a surprise by scoring very, very high (and it’s not over yet!). The film, directed by Pierre Nin, is very close to 8 million at the time of writing!
That beats the two Three Musketeers movies released in 2023, by comparison. And the performance is all the more appreciated because it is almost a 3 hour long movie. A great success of the film adapted from the world of Alexandre Dumas.
Note that The Count of Monte Cristo is also popular in bookstores! Success is there, in movies and books.
A great summer for animation
Since then the animation works fine On the contrary 2 And Despicable Me 4 is among this summer’s big blockbusters in France. The period, as we know, is always favorable for family films and especially for animation. Not content with being a big hit internationally, Vice Versa 2 also scored very well in France. It is already the 2nd biggest success of the year (and in the history of Pixar in our country), behind Un P’tit truc en plus. This second part almost doubled the score of the first part in France: 8,251,729 entries against 4,544,667 entries.
Despicable Me 4 is also doing very well, even if it doesn’t reach the heights of Opus 3 (5,637,548 entries). With 4,158,053 entries, this is a very good score for this 4th installment, which is 4th in the Summer Top 10.
Comedy at the top
This review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the huge success of Un P’tit truc en plus. Artus’ comedy achieves the highest number of views in 10 years in a French film: 10 million participants. The last French film to pass this milestone was Qu’est-ce qu’on a fait au bon Dieu in 2014. Un P’tit truc en plus is among the top 10 most successful French films of all time.
Artus’s comedy is the only one in France that has been a huge success this summer. The Minion, Almost Legal, Super Dad and The Hennedricks Family did not reach the expected scores.
The franchises are doing well, but… there are disappointments
As it often happens, the summer gave way to franchises. Few original creations in the top 10 and many sequels or remakes. Except for Jamais plus and Trap, all the films represented in the top 10 in part 2 are franchises: Deadpool and Wolverine, Bad Boys Ride or Die, Alien Romulus and Quietly: Day 1.
Keep in mind that some franchises don’t reach the level of the movie they’re working on. A score below expectations, for example, for Twisters (623,304 tickets sold) vs Twister (2,564,252 tickets, in 1996).
For a remake of The Crow, it’s a failure. The same goes for Borderlands (an adaptation of the successful video game license), which has been disappointing and failed to establish itself in France or internationally.
On the French franchise side, the sequel to Largo Winch also performed poorly (less than 170,000 admissions, compared to more than 500,000 admissions for the first two installments). The French action did not, on the whole, meet with the expected success. The action film Elyas, directed by Emilio Siri and led by Roschdy Zem, struggled to gain a mass audience (179,758 attendees).
Top 10 summer in France
(Is published from June to the end of August, with one exception)
1 – A little something extra : 10,447,569 entries (*cumulative as of May 1, 2024)
2 – On the contrary 2 : 8,251,729 records
3 – The Count of Monte Cristo : 7,702,062 entries
4 – Despicable Me 4 : 4,158,053 entries
5 – Deadpool and Wolverine : 3,441,912 entries
6 – Bad guys go or die : 1,247,216 entries (*cumulative as of June 5, 2024)
7 – Alien Romulus : 920,048 records
8 – Quietly: Day 1 : 870,114 records
9 – Never again – it ends with us : 861,813 records
10 – trap : 798130 entries
* Source CBO Box-office, figures for Wednesday, September 4, 2024
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
