225,000 admissions between July 14, the day it was released, and August 10. It is both an honorable score and a big disappointment for “Titane”, by Julia Ducournau, Palme d’Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. Honorable because the second film by the young filmmaker has already done better than the first, ” Grave ”, which had accumulated 150,000 admissions in 2017. Disappointing compared to other recent French Palmes d’Or: 634,000 spectators for“ Dheepan ”, by Jacques Audiard, in 2015, more than a million for“ La Vie d ‘ Adèle ”, by Abdellatif Kechiche, in 2013. And what about the latest Palme d’Or to date,“ Parasite ”, by South Korean Bong Joon-ho, who posted a score of 1.7 million admissions in 2019?
But the comparison stops there: “Titanium”, a genre film with a fantastic story and scenes that can shake up, could not envisage seducing as many spectators as the three films mentioned above, even with Vincent Lindon at the head of. attach. Above all, it was released in a very specific context, with the implementation of the health pass in places of culture one week after its theatrical release.
And this is where the shoe pinches the most. Jean-Christophe Reymond, producer of the film, does not go four ways: “The health pass has killed Titanium », He lambasted. An assertion that he hastens to detail: “When the film’s distributor, Diaphana, pre-purchased it four years ago, we hoped to make 300,000 admissions. At the time, of course, the question of a possible Palme d’Or did not arise. However, with the selection at Cannes and the Palme, we hoped to go to 500,000, while we will not exceed 300,000. In the end, Diaphana will lose money… ”
From 20,000 admissions per day to 5,000
What happened ? When the film’s release was decided on July 14, all indicators were green – the film was selected at Cannes and released on the same day as its screening. The promotion, poster campaign, and theatrical programming were complete. Now, here is Emmanuel Macron announcing the establishment of the health pass (from the 21st) in his speech of July 12, two short days before the release of “Titanium”. Impossible then to reverse and shift the film. Once the ax fell, Jean-Christophe Reymond could only observe the damage: “7,500 entries per day the first week of operation, while the health pass is not yet active. Then, 20,000 admissions on the 19th, the day after the Palme d’Or was awarded. And from the 21st and the pass, we fell to 5,000 or 6,000 daily admissions. “
When one retorts to him that French films which have just been released like “Kaamelott” or “OSS 117” are doing better, the producer argues that “auteur films are more affected by the health pass. However, we are one of the rare French auteur films which was intended to reach young people, those who give up going to the cinema the most because of the past ”- it is indeed the least vaccinated population. And, he concludes, “going to see an author’s film is not the same as going to see a mainstream film with the family”.
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“The health pass killed Titanium”: the rant of the producer of the Palme d’Or 2021