Screens looks at the local and independent release in key markets.

France

Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Micmacs was released on Wednesday on 629 screens. The Warner Bros. France release picked up 100,509 admissions on its first day making it the second biggest newcomer of the week just behind the Michael Jackson documentary This Is It. The long-awaited film stars Dany Boon as a man who cobbles together a band of folks to fight the arms trade. Reviews have been strong across the board since the film debuted at the Toronto Film Festival last month.

Pathe’s Cineman from director Yann Moix is a high-concept comedy starring Franck Dubosc as a professor who is given one day to travel through films where he will meet the woman of his dreams. The film also stars Lucy Gordon, Pierre-Francois Martin-Laval and Pierre Richard. Takings were 44,233 admissions on the film’s first day out Wednesday on 465 screens.

Animated feature Panique Au Village from directors Vincent Patar and Stephane Aubier features the vocal talent of Benoit Poelvoorde, Bouli Lanners and Frederic Jannin. The Gebeka Films release went out on 77 screens on Wednesday and sold 3,096 tickets. The hapless protagonists, Co-Boy and Indien set out to surprise their friend Cheval (Horse) with a new barbecue for his birthday but things go miserably awry.

 

UK

E1 Films UK is giving Lone Scherfig’s An Education a nationwide release from October 30. The coming-of-age drama, which stars Carey Mulligan, is set in 1960s London and follows a teenage girls encounters with an older playboy.

Indie distributor Revolver will release crime thriller Dead Man Running, from director Alex De Rakoff, nationwide also from October 30. Boasting a cast including Danny Dyer, 50 Cent and Brenda Blethyn, the film follows an ex-con who is given just 24 hours to repay his debts to a loan shark, or face the consequences.

UK production Starsuckers will reach the West End and key cities, through S2S Distribution. Chris Atkins’ documentary focuses on the validity of celebrity stories in British newspapers.

 

Germany

Swiss writer-director Micha Lewinsky’s romantic comedy Will You Marry Us (Die Standesbeamtin) is released on 50 prints in Germany by Schwarz Weiss Film Verleih after recording almost 100,000 admissions on its release in Switzerland. The film which won the best actress award at
the Montreal Film Festival will have its market premiere at the forthcoming AFM.

Korean filmmaker Sung Hyung-Cho’s documentary Home From Home, which premiered in the Berlinale’s Panorama last February, opens in 14 German towns nationwide for Zorro Film. Her previous film Full Metal Village won many prizes at home and abroad.

 

Spain

Universal picked up Cary Fukanaga’s feature debut Sin Nombre for Spain following strong reviews and a couple of major awards at Sundance back in January. The brutal Spanish-language drama about gang warfare in Mexico and immigrants’ attempts to cross the border into the US has already taken $2.5m in North America through Focus Features.

Respected Spanish indie director Salvador Garcia Ruiz´ new drama Paper Castles hits cinemas through Alta Films. The drama involves a tense love triangle between art students, played by Adriana Ugarte, Biel Duran, and Nilo Mur. Paper Castles has already been sold by Latido Films to several key territories.

Ursula Meier’s feature debut Home, starring Isabelle Huppert and Olivier Gourmet, was chosen last month as Switzerland’s entrant for this year’s foreign language Oscar. The drama about a small community affected by the construction of a major highway is released in Spanish cinemas through Piramide Films.