The “Johnny Hallyday” exhibition, at the Porte de Versailles in Paris, was due to end this Wednesday, June 19. At the urging of the organizers of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, who will use the location from July 1 to distribute their accreditations, it finally closed on Sunday evening. Inaugurated on December 21, it welcomed 185,000 visitors, according to initial estimates from Tempora, the Belgian company which co-produced it with Laeticia Hallyday.
“This is a more than honorable result, adding the 75,000 visitors who had already discovered it in Brussels last year,” said Benoît Remiche, the boss of Tempora. But I expected more, given the million French people who attended his funeral six and a half years ago. »
Video“We will never forget him”: the exhibition dedicated to Johnny Hallyday arrives in Paris
For this manager, it is not the quality or richness of the presentation that is in question. “In 150 exhibitions organized since 1998, I have never had such a satisfaction rate from visitors,” says this specialist in exhibition productions around the world. We have 4.9 out of 5 and unanimous press feedback. Fans filled more than forty pounds with gold, saying how touched they were, dazzled, happy that we treated them with respect! When putting together the exhibition, we had discussions with Laeticia Hallyday, who wanted a truly polished retrospective. And she was right. But perhaps we haven’t communicated enough on certain aspects, like fashion and cinema…”
Derivative products brought in 2.34 million euros
Even if he is aware that “the purchasing power of Johnny’s fans, often modest, is not extensible when it comes to traveling to Paris”, Benoît Remiche does not think that the entry ticket – of 24.50 euros — dampened their ardor. “Especially since the store performed above our forecasts,” notes the boss of Tempora. Visitors spent an average of 9 euros! »
From key rings to the miniature of Johnny’s Cobra brand car at 85 euros, derivative products brought in 2.34 million euros! “Each visitor wanted to leave with their memory,” he continues. There was a pilgrimage aspect. A young person came to Brussels every day! For the first time for a temporary exhibition, we have also set up subscriptions. We’ve sold over 2,000.”
The idea of transporting the rocker’s objects and costumes to other large cities has not been abandoned. “There is demand, we have touches in Strasbourg, Lyon, Toulouse, Montpellier,” specifies the director of Tempora. The latter city had offered to host it this summer, but between assembly and dismantling, which take time, we need at least four months for it to be interesting. We are also thinking with Laeticia about adapting the size and content of the exhibition, taking into account the comments made to us. »
