Following what can only be termed a rotten summer for film-going in France, exhibitors are thrilled with the performance of Johnny Depp's Pirates Of The Carribbean, the first real summer blockbuster to show any legs.

Also new this week and of note is Cannes competition film La Petite Lili. The Checkhov adaptation by Claude Miller boasts 2003's answer to Audrey Tautou, spitfire Ludivine Sagnier. Much as her bikini-clad nubile body laid out on the poster for another Cannes film, Francois Ozon's Swimming Pool attracted interest, Sagnier's face is featured on billboards for Lili throughout France, bringing in the crowds and winning the hearts of critics who have embraced the film.

Next week though Tautou is back in her first English-language role in Stephen Frears' Dirty Pretty Things.