Tirard's 'Petit Nicolas' does big numbers at French box office (HWT)

By Nancy Tartaglione

Updated:

In what could position it as the highest-grossing local film of the year in France, Laurent's Tirard's "Le Petit Nicolas" has sold over 2 million tickets in its first 12 days of release for a take of roughly $17.2 million.

The 1 million ticket threshold is an important benchmark for any French film and having broken the 2 million barrier in such a short time could see the comedy, based on the book by Rene Goscinny and Jean-Jacques Sempe, end up with about 4 million admissions to make it the top French film of the year.

Wild Bunch Distribution released the film on September 30 when it scored the third-best opening screening in Paris for the year, selling 5,968 tickets on 25 screens, according to www.CBO-boxoffice.com (subscription required). It also boasts the fifth-best opening weekend of the year following "Harry Potter 6," "Ice Age 3," local comedy "Coco" and Disney/Pixar's "Up."

The feel-good family film has been sold worldwide excluding the US, Japan and the UK. Wild Bunch is handling international sales.

Produced by Fidelite (whose Olivier Delbosc and Marc Missonnier are producers on Paul Haggis' upcoming "The Next Three Days") and IMAV in association with Wild Bunch, the film stars Maxime Godart, Valerie Lemercier, Kad Merad and Sandrine Kiberlain in the story of the adventures of a precocious little boy whose world is turned upside down when he believes he's overheard his parents discussing the arrival of a new baby.