EXCLUSIVE: Cannes hit approaches $1m after first weekend with screen count set to expand.

Toni Erdmann_3

Cannes favourite Toni Erdmann has struck a sweet note for distributor NFP in Germany, attracting more than 80,000 admissions over its first weekend and close to $1m.

Writer-director Maren Ade‘s comedy, released on July 14, is expected to cross the $1m mark this week and expand screen count from 98.

The well-received story of a father who tries to reconnect with his adult daughter took the top spot in the arthouse chart and entered the general box office chart in fifth position. It clocked the weekend’s best screen average and the best screen average for a German film this calendar year.

In Austria, the film had similar success with more than 8,000 admissions accounting for a No. 4 slot in the chart.

Sony Classics swooped on US and Latin America rights in Cannes and is understood to be releasing in December 2016, to time with a potential Foreign Language Oscar run. Soda is due to release in UK in early 2017.

Toni Erdmann was produced by Komplizen Film (Janine Jackowski and Jonas Dornbach) in co-production with Coop99, KNM, Missing Link Films, and SWR/WDR/ARTE.

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