– The surprise success of François Descraques’ sci-fi film in French cinemas should give the industry food for thought, according to distributor Vladimir Kokh (KMBO).
Arnaud Ducret a The visitor from the future
“I hope for the distributors and for the public that this test run will give suggestions to the producers and the various financing actors, so that they welcome projects that go beyond the very classic art house genre and can dynamize the theaters and create a first connection with casual viewers who don’t go to the movies very often.” For the pilot of KMBO Vladimir Kochthe 231,000 recordings registered in two weeks by François Descraques‘s The visitor from the future [+see also:
trailer
film profile] are not only the signs of a surprise success, but should give the entire film industry pause for thought in a tense context in which French cinemas (also affected by the energy crisis) are facing a drop in admissions of around 30% in 2022 compared to 2019 (the last reference before the pandemic), with the entire national industry asking questions and exploring several avenues to get audiences back to the cinema, especially young people: Are you playing with the price of the ticket? On the event-based character of film screenings? On the volume or type of films released? etc.
“The visitor from the futuree is a sci-fi film with comedy elements, but far from the usual French comedy standards,” continues its distributor. His action? In the year 2555, in a devastated future, the apocalypse threatens the earth. The last hope lies with a capable man of time travel. His mission: to return to the past and change the course of things. But the Time Brigade, a time police force, hunt him down in every age. Produced by Pyramide Productions and co-produced by France 2 Cinéma and the Die Belgier Scope Pictures and Allons Voir, the film sold by Elle Driver did not have an easy birth, according to Vladimir Kokh: “The producers had difficulties financing this film, which is based on is not a classic on the market. It’s a first film with a budget of 4.5 million euros that they managed with the means available (even if France 2 had a good intuition when they entered into a co-production), but very ambitious, with many special effects. “
“What explains his current success in cinemas? I think we’re at a turning point for theatrical distribution today. We know very well that there are pitfalls for the variety of French films on offer, especially for the 15-25 or even 15-35 age group who are more attracted to American films. But in rental, we’re discovering that manga, for example, can achieve excellent results. This work, which Eurozoom has been working on for several years, has proved very strong way with One piece red published by Pathé: These are serious candidates that can stimulate the market. The visitor from the future is the same, because when we analyzed his entries, we found that the average ticket price is higher than usual, which means that the spectators are not season ticket holders, but people who buy their tickets individually, which is confirmed by the days, where the film runs best, weekends and Wednesdays which are typical of the peripheral/provincial audience as opposed to the cinephile audience who go to the cinema on Thursdays, Tuesdays etc. There’s a public appetite for movies that are a little UFO’s on the market. This gives us some clues to launch production and distribution initiatives in the French market. Because we noticed something strange on social media: for a part of the public, French films are bad because they are French! So there’s a lot of outreach to that fringe of the public, to show them that good films can be made in France, not necessarily with incredible budgets, and that can appeal to viewers who aren’t necessarily cinephiles.”
(Translated from French)
