According to figures compiled by Disney, more than 6.87 million viewers have boarded the star Pandora since the release of this new "Avatar" on December 14.
During the holidays, the film attracted more than 500,000 spectators a day, a rate that allowed it to dethrone Tom Cruise's fighter plane and the 6.76 million admissions achieved with its comeback of "Top Gun "Since May.
On a global level, France offers James Cameron's film, which has already exceeded one billion dollars in revenue, its third largest estimated income, behind the United States and China.
“The family audience is very present as well as the occasional spectators who had never yet returned to the cinema for three years and the start of the pandemic”, welcomes AFP Frédéric Monnereau, director of distribution at Disney.
"This success is good news for the entire cinema and theater industry," he added, noting that "the more admissions a film has, the more taxes it generates" paid to production. of films, in the French system.
If no one dares to bet on the final score (perhaps 10 million, we whisper at Disney), "Avatar" should continue its momentum in early 2023.
The first part, 13 years ago, had attracted a total of 14.7 million spectators - and remains the most profitable film in history (nearly 2.9 billion dollars in worldwide revenue).
“More selective” public
Something to put a smile on the faces of theaters, after a year 2022 where part of the public was still lacking.
Attendance figures will not be released until Monday but it should be down around a quarter from pre-Covid.
In 2022, "the entire public returned to theaters, but by being more selective", analysis for AFP Eric Marti, specialist at Comscore: American films were a "motor" when, on the French side, only films "with a certain originality" have resisted, to the detriment of big comedies for example.
France is doing better than other countries like Korea, the United Kingdom or especially Italy, he notes.
"The year ends better than it started", tempers the general delegate of the Federation of French cinemas, Marc-Olivier Sebbag: "we are very optimistic for 2023 when we will finally find a film offer comparable to the years pre-crisis".
From Harrison Ford to Dany Boon
For Eric Marti, the successes of films like "Top Gun" and "Avatar" have in any case proved to the studios "that they could not do without the room".
In 2023, cinemas are betting in particular, in the action and adventure department, on Keanu Reeves and the new "John Wick", Tom Cruise in "Mission: Impossible", and the return of Harrison Ford in "Indiana Jones".
"Ant-man" is set to usher in a new "phase" of the Marvel Universe.
Steven Spielberg will deliver his most intimate film ("The Fabelmans" - February 22), Christopher Nolan presents "Oppenheimer", about the "father" of the atomic bomb while the darling of independent cinema Greta Gerwig is expected on such an enigmatic project that candy pink, "Barbie", with Margot Robbie in the title role.
On the French side, the year will be marked by Guillaume Canet's "Asterix and Obelix" and its XXL cast (Gilles Lellouche, Vincent Cassel, Marion Cotillard but also the rappers Bigflo and Oli, the YouTubers McFly and Carlito or the football star Zlatan...) as well as an ambitious adaptation of "The Three Musketeers", two parts of which are due out in 2023.
Also expected, on the comedy side, Philippe Lacheau twice ("Alibi.com 2" and "3 days max"), Dany Boon with "Life for real" or the duo Eric Toledano / Olivier Nakache ("A difficult year" ).
© 2022 AFP