Despite the commercial failure of Asterix and Obelix: The Silk Road, Guillaume Canet maintained that his film is a success nonetheless…
After the famous legend of “what is risk?”, it is now possible to propose “what is denial?”. Despite their whopping budget estimated at around 65 million euros, their A-list cast, and their promotional campaign worthy of the latest iPhone, the latest adventures of the Gauls have not exactly set the crowds on fire.
Although it had been calculated that 6 million admissions would be necessary to make the film profitable, it finally only managed to arouse the curiosity of 4.6 million viewers on French territory; so much so that Asterix and Obelix: The Silk Road can claim to be the first big box office flop of French cinema in 2023. For comparison purposes, Alain Chabat’s now cult movie Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra gathered more than 14.5 million viewers in French theaters and 10.2 million internationally when it was released in 2002.
But while his latest baby suffers from a disastrous critical reception and more than lukewarm revenue,Guillaume Canet maintains a high head, and affirmed to the Journal du Dimanche that, no no, his film was not a flop at all:
“This is absolutely not a failure. It has been sold all over the world and has so far made more than 2 million admissions internationally, with box office successes in Europe, in Poland for example. […] We forget that before Avatar launched the movement in a big way coming out of the pandemic, few films were making these kinds of numbers.”
Let’s move on. However, it is difficult to play the ostrich game without risking total disconnection from reality. When asked about the bad press his film received (i.e., an average of 1.8/5 stars on Allociné), Canet admitted that it was “never pleasant”but that he refused to be discouraged:
Alone Against All
“I worked for five years to achieve what I wanted to do: a great adventure spectacle. Some people like it, some don’t. […] I hope that I will make another film that will appeal more to my detractors and make them change their minds about my work. […] I am very happy with the feedback I have received from people on the street, especially children. They really liked it, and that is the most important thing for me.”
However, it seems that behind the facade, Guillaume Canet is more aware of the success of his film than he lets on. That’s why he confessed that he’s not particularly inclined to get involved in such an enterprise again anytime soon:
“I do not rule out wanting a new big project in a few years. But today I am more interested in something more intimate (…) with a smaller team and perhaps less pressure.”. Fair enough.
#Astérix #Obélix #lEmpire #Milieu
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