But what a great idea to fill the cinemas during the very special summer that is coming up!
UGC announced this Tuesday the next theatrical release of the cult “Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain”, by Jean-Pierre Jeunet with, among others, Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz and Jamel Debbouze.
A new release set precisely for July 24… two days before the opening of the Paris Olympic Games.
Hence the fact that this initiative is more than welcome at a time when 15 million tourists will flood into France for the Olympics.
And of which “only 3 million of them will have tickets for the events, which leaves 12 million potential spectators”, recalled in our columns on February 4 Marc-Olivier Sebbag, general delegate of the National Federation of French Cinemas (FNCF ).
Largely orchestrated for them, this re-release will be “in VF with English subtitles in all the theaters where it will be offered”, specifies Lucie Trampoglieri, general director of UGC Distribution, contacted in the middle of the day.
How many rooms exactly?
“It’s still too early to say, but at least 200 or 250,” or even more.
Because, according to her, the objective is twofold: “To bring out a cult film of French heritage during the Olympics so that tourists can enjoy it in these beautiful settings that are our cinemas, and to offer great screenings to the French who have never seen the film, or have never seen it in theaters.
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To them, therefore, this story of a young waitress from Montmartre who spends her time observing people and will come across colorful or surprising characters, such as Lucien, the grocer from La Butte, or Nino, on the trail of a mysterious stranger who leaves photos of himself in photo booths.
While several tour organizations have long offered tours in the footsteps of the film in Montmartre, or tourists can go on their own to cult locations of the feature film such as the Collignon grocery store on rue des Three Brothers (18th century), they will now be able to accompany their walk with a session.
“The Fabulous Destiny…” will be released throughout the country
But UGC is not only targeting visitors from Île-de-France, because “Le Fabuleux destin…” will be seen throughout the territory.
Very popular, the feature film won over 9 million French people when it was released in 2001, and 30 million spectators worldwide.
For Anglo-Saxons, it remains a typical work of French cinema: when it was released in American theaters on February 14, it attracted 50,000 new spectators, a very good score for a heritage film in a foreign language.
In fact, the director of UGC Distribution hopes “that this re-release will work very well, and even fill the theaters, we will try to make it a real event…” It should not be complicated: if several big-budget fictions will be positioned in cinemas during the Olympics, including "Deadpool 3" which will also be released on July 24, or "Largo Winch: the price of money" on August 7, the major feature films will be less jostling than ordinary in the temples of the 7th Art because of the competition from the Games.
A boon for Amélie Poulain fans, who showed their enthusiasm on social networks as soon as the release was announced late Tuesday afternoon...