French director Cédric Jimenez’s thriller November has drawn one million spectators in France in its first two weeks on release, bucking the trend of the country’s recent lackluster box office, co-producer and distributor Studiocanal has announced.
The fast-paced drama feature, which is inspired by the five-day manhunt for the perpetrators of the November 15 terror attacks in Paris, world premiered Out of Competition in Cannes in May.
Seven years on from the attacks, they remain a raw and sensitive memory in the French psyche. The film, however, focuses on the investigation and state of heightened tension in the aftermath, rather than the actual events of November 15.
Studiocanal said the film had exceeded one million admissions in France within 15 days, sitting at number one at the French box office since the theatrical release on October 5. This marks a new record for a Studiocanal film in France.
Jimenez has prior box office form at home, having achieved 2.2 million lifetime admissions on his 2021 hit The Stronghold in France.
”After The Stronghold which was a tremendous success, we at Studiocanal are very happy to have renewed our collaboration with Cédric Jimenez and Hugo Sélignac, who produced November with Mathias Rubin,” said Studiocanal CEO Anna Marsh.
“We are very proud to support a project led by tremendous actors and bolstered by a team of immense professionals – a team in which, with the Canal+ Group, we strongly believe. We are dazzled by such a success, and it is proof that the public is there and comes to theatres when they feel like it.”
The thriller was written by Olivier Demangel (9 Month Stretch, Atlantics) and produced by Rubin’s Récifilms (Mobius, In Your Hands) and Sélignac’s ChiFouMi Productions (Sink Or Swim, The Wolf’s Call, The Stronghold).
Jean Dujardin and Sandrine Kiberlain co-star as police chiefs in charge of the investigation, in a race against time to find the November 15 perpetrators before they strike again, with other cast members including Anaïs Demoustier Jérémie Renier and Lyna Khoudri.
Studiocanal which also handles sales has sold the film to more than 30 territories to date. In France, the film will be released on DVD, BD, UHD, VOD and EST in February 2023, and will be available on myCANAL in April 2023.