Announced three and a half years ago, Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom finally hits theaters this Wednesday, February 1st. The stakes are high for this blockbuster with a five-star cast and a massive budget (more than 65 million euros): to be the first film of 2023 in terms of viewers and to encourage the public to return to the cinema in a context where productions French films are fighting to prevail over American blockbusters.
To do this, Pathé, which produces and distributes the fifth adaptation of the Goscinny and Uderzo comics, has turned the odds on its side. And it is supported by a key date, that of the first Wednesday in February, which has always brought joy to its blockbusters over the last twenty years, from the overwhelming box ofAsterix and Obelix: Cleopatra Mission (14,565,506 admissions in 2002).
In fact, this “magic date” is associated with great successes in French cinema, pact of wolves (January 31, 2001, 5,098,283 admissions) to Tan 3: Friends for Life (February 1, 2006, 10,355,928 entries). This strategic date also often coincides with the February school holidays, a period historically less fraught with American blockbusters, allowing for maximum admissions.
The triumph of Dany Boon
In Pathé, the score of Cleopatra Mission it has made such an impression that every director looks forward to seeing his film released on the same date. Thomas Langmann, in particular, had insisted on obtaining a date of January 30, 2008 for his Asterix at the Olympic Games. That year’s vacation, however, had fallen two weeks later, and had benefited more… welcome home of the Ch’tis.
Since her triumph, Dany Boon has always released her films in February. In theaters February 2, 2011, Nothing to declare thus attracted 8,150,825 spectators. Posted on February 1, 2017, mad raid while it added 4,570,812 entries. In 2014, superchondriac moved to the end of the month, to February 26, to make way for Beauty and the Beastanother Pathé blockbuster (5,266,796 entries at the end).
Pathé is not the only company adopting this strategy. Warner Bros. France tested it with The truth if I lie! 2 (February 7, 2001, 7,776,367 entries). More recently, UGC achieved similar success with the good god 2 (January 30, 2019, 6,711,618 admissions). Philippe Lacheau is finally a regular of the time with nicky larson (February 6, 2019), despite himself superheroes (February 1, 2022) and Alibi.com 2 (February 8, 2023).
The coronation of the Tuches
It was on this crucial date that the saga of box he also achieved his greatest successes. In theaters February 3, 2016, the tuches 2 It confirmed the attachment of the French to this crazy family by attracting 4,619,148 viewers. the tuches 3, which premiered on January 31, 2018, also attracted 5,687,200 viewers. The greatest success of French cinema of that year, the comedy received a César from the public.
Before the release of Cleopatra Missionmany French cinema hits have also been associated with this “magic rendezvous”, such as The visitors (January 27, 1993, 13,782,992 entries) or Asterix and Obelix against Caesar (February 3, 1999, 8,948,624 entries). So many successes that give you confidence Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdomalready at the top of the box office last Sunday after a day of advances.
But will the public be there from this Wednesday? With school holidays starting this Saturday in zone A, the start of the film should live up to the hype. It remains to be seen if word of mouth will push the film past five million admissions, a threshold that the blockbuster absolutely must pass to avoid bitter flop.
Source: BFM TV
