great start for “Gladiator 2”, new king of the arena

Five days after its release, the sequel to Ridley Scott’s epic already has 1.14 million admissions, which is better than the first part unveiled in 2000. For its part, “L’Amour ouf” exceeds the threshold of 4 million spectators.

VTwenty-four years after the triumph of the first opus (4.7 million admissions in France), the sequel to Gladiator signed Ridley Scott obviously aroused strong expectations. In fact, 1.14 million aficionados flocked to the 729 theaters during its first five days of operation. That is to say a higher start than the initial film (891,000 admissions in 2000), even if this clear advance can also be explained by a significant number of previews (261,000 admissions in two days). Second best launch as of 2024, the peplum will undoubtedly finish among the ten biggest hits of the year.

In the fifth week, Love phew therefore logically had to give up his seat but he is still positioned in second place with 338,000 additional lovers. A contribution that allows it to exceed the threshold of 4 million spectators! For Juror #2, by Clint Eastwood, the million entries have just been reached, thanks to another very good hold on third place in the ranking.

You have to go down to ninth place to find the second best launch of the week, that of Eventually, which only brought together 64,000 faithful in 327 rooms. This is among the worst performances of Claude Lelouch’s career. Another French director, Xavier Beauvois, only managed to bring 62,000 dreamers into 283 theaters around The Valley of Fools. The tricolor comedy We should have gone to Greece with Gérard Jugnot (53,000 admissions in 228 theaters) and the dramatic comedy In flip-flops at the foot of the Himalayas with Audrey Lamy (33,000 in 259 theaters) are also struggling to find their audience.

Ultimately, the most convincing result of the French innovations is for The Kingdom, which convinced 59,000 moviegoers in 160 theaters. Julien Colonna’s film thus achieves a score close to that of Borgo, by Stéphane Demoustier (73,000 admissions), another recent thriller set in Corsica. Judging by the first returns, it should benefit from strong word of mouth. Also note the successful launch of the Israeli-Palestinian documentary No Other Land, which has already attracted 12,000 spectators despite a broadcast limited to 51 theaters.