Welcome to the Ch’ti : the greatest French success
For several decades, The Big Mop (1966) remained the biggest success in France for a local production. The French comedy had gathered more than 17 million spectators. It was without counting Untouchables (2011), which surpassed Gérard Oury’s film with 19.5 million admissions. But before that, Dany Bon he did even better with Welcome to the Ch’ti (2008)monstrous success that attracted more than 20 million viewers. A record that has not yet been beaten by another French film. We point out that the number 1 at the French box office is American, since it is Titanic (1997) with 22 million entries.
There is no doubt that no one would have bet on such an outcome when Welcome to the Ch’ti has been revealed. Dany Boon has however found the right recipe by staging the meeting of two opposite personalities. It all begins with Philippe Abrams, director of a post office in the South, who finds himself transferred to the North. Goodbye sun and head for rain as soon as it arrives in the region. For this prejudiced southerner, the spark will be the encounter with the local population, “the Ch’tis”.
A success for the region too
While playing on clichés, Dany Boon remains benevolent in his portrayal of the people of the North, where he comes from. Furthermore, the success of his film Welcome to the Ch’ti Bergues stressed where the story takes place. The city then saw tourism and the local economy explode. To get an idea of the impact, Marc Bourel, vice-president of the Hauts-de-Flandres Tourist Office, explained in 2017 (via Allociné) that before the film, around 25,000 people were counted who entered the Office. Two later, in 2010, this figure has risen to 100,000 peopleAdded to this is an increase in sales of products linked to the North, such as Maroilles or Castelain brand beers.
Things could have gone differently for Welcome to the Ch’ti and the region. Because nothing says that the success would have been the same with a different casting. However, without the intervention of Richard Pezet of Pathé, Dany Boon would not have requested Kad Merad for the role of Philippe Abrams. Good advice from the producer when we see the success of the film. A success that could have been even greater, abroad.
Incredible censorship in China
The feature film, for example, has attracted 2.4 million viewers in Germany and more than a million in Belgium. In total, more than 6 million viewers came to theaters outside France to discover Dany Boon’s film. This has pushed global revenues to more than $245 million (via Mojo Box Office). All this, without even the help of China. Over there, Welcome to the Ch’ti was subjected to censorship due to the representation of alcohol in the film. This is what Dany Boon clarified to the French film in 2014.
If the film wasn’t released in China, it’s because we didn’t get past the censorship, because I play a civil servant who drinks alcohol.
Enough to force the feature film to do without the Chinese market. But not to prevent a remodeling projectmentioned in 2014, still with the French film.
There is a Chinese remake project. I was recently on Skype with Liu Jie, who directed Judge Feng’s Last Journey, which won an award at Venice, a very nice arthouse film. He loves Les Ch’tis and reached out to us. It’s very funny.
Dany Boon had also shared on his Facebook account an excerpt of his discussion with director Liu Jie (see below). But the project does not seem to have gone all the way, just like the American remake that was cancelled. Unlike the Italian remake Welcome to the South released in 2010.
Source: Cine Serie
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