France box office: Dying can wait breaks a record, Dune hangs on

The public obviously came to say goodbye to Daniel Craig en masse since To die can wait steals the title of best startup 2021 from Fast & Furious 9.

At the redac, we expected to be able to live it on the big screen and we were apparently not the only ones since with its 1,384,858 entries, To die can wait had the best start of the year ahead of Fast & Furious 9 and its 1.3 million spectators. Ironically, however, this is the smallest start of the Craig era since … Casino Royale in 2006 which gathered 1.26 million 007 aficionados.

The exit postponed for nearly two years and the restrictions on access to theaters linked to sanitary measures against Covid-19 undoubtedly got the better of the motivation of some of the spectators, but To die can wait may also be a victim of the memory of Spectrum which had the best first week of Craig’s Bond with 2.2 million admissions in 2015 after Sky Fall (1.84 million) and Quantum of Solace (1.7). We wish to To die can wait to exceed the 4.9 million of its predecessor, even if it already seems Mission Impossible for 007.

“It is temporary, I can’t afford an Aston Martin with the fuel prices “

To die can wait disrupts the balance of power and reshuffles the box office cards, stinging the passage of entries to all its competitors including Dune which loses almost half of its spectators (- 45%) after more moderate falls in the past weeks. With its 2.47 million admissions, Denis Villeneuve’s blockbuster SF can at least boast of having beaten the 2.31 million admissions of the Dune by David Lynch in 1984. On the other hand, the three million entries could escape him if his attendance continues to fall like this.

A goal as distant as Arrakis for Black Box who can at least be satisfied with its million spectators, very soon acquired. With a fall of 44% and a trajectory similar to Dune, Yann Gozlan’s aerial thriller has accumulated 970,000 admissions and should end its career a stone’s throw from the symbolic barrier of 6 zeros. A score that confirms the attractiveness of the French public for ambitious local films and especially the “star-power” of Pierre Niney, our national Daniel Craig (no).

Flyfall

Same with North Bac which should not be interpreted as a craze for François Civil’s “acceng mareuseillais”. Cedric Jimenez’s muscular thriller has just passed the two million admissions mark and is quietly bowing out. The film could however stop its race before the 2.2 million Wretched of Ladj Ly, unless Gérald Darmanin offers free UGC cards to the police …

At the back of the pack, Shang-Chi and the legend of the Ten Rings looks gray at the start of autumn. Its total of 1.3 million admissions takes us back to Marvel’s darkest hours, that of Daredevil and its 1.3 million admissions in 2003 or more recently, X-Men: Dark Phoenix with 1.4 million spectators in July 2019. Suddenly, we are not sure that The Eternals fizzled out when it arrived on November 3, 2021.

Fly like chicken, stings like a pebble in the shoe

Finally, let us point out the arrival of Tralala, My legionary, and Gaza my love visibly obscured by Bond’s shadow. The Larrieu brothers’ musical made 45,000 music lovers sing while Louis Garrel convinced 20,000 volunteers for the Foreign Legion. And it is ultimately the love story in the Israeli-Palestinian context that pulls its thin pin of the game with the best average per copy of the three novelties (15,000 spectators for 68 rooms).

Next week, it’s literally a historic duel that promises to beEiffel will come out in front of The Last Duel. See you on October 21 to find out the public’s favorite time to travel through time.