In French, the word “locomotive” refers to both a high-speed train and a catalyst. It has become a local film industry term for blockbuster movies that drive ticket sales and bring audiences to cinemas.
In 2025, admissions to French cinemas reached just 156.8 million compared to 181 million admissions the year before, a decline widely attributed to both a dearth of US and homegrown locomotives.
But as 2026 begins, there is a different mood among France’s distributors and exhibitors, a belief that there are many more US and French “locomotives” poised to bring audiences to cinemas.
“We have a French expression that ‘the appetite comes when you eat’,” says Xavier Albert, managing director of Universal Studios France. “When people go to the cinema, they are watching trailers, they are experiencing image and sound quality and the collective experience. It is a virtuous film-going circle where audiences want to keep returning to cinemas.”
French blockbusters
From the US, a trio are anticipated as almost surefire blockbusters: Greta Gerwig’s Narnia, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day. Exhibitors are also looking forward to superhero sequels Spiderman: Brand New Day, Avengers: Doomsday, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, and family-friendly fare led by Toy Story 5, the live-action Moana and Jumanji 3.
From France, Studiocanal is banking on Yann Gozlan’s thriller Guru in late January, in which Pierre Niney stars as a manipulative self-help guru. Niney is one of France’s most bankable stars, most recently headlining 2024 box-office smash The Count Of Monte-Cristo. He has appeared in a slew of films that have sold more than 1 million tickets at the local box office, including his last collaboration with director Gozlan in Black Box that garnered some 1.2 million admissions even during its pandemic-plagued 2021 release.
Pathe has timed Philippe Lacheau’s Marsupilami for the school holidays in February. The creature feature tale has a starry local cast, including Lacheau himself and beloved French comedian Jamel Debbouze. Debbouze regularly draws large crowds and last starred in a 2012 Marsupilami film for Pathe that sold more than 5 million tickets. Marsupilami is based on a well-known comic book series Pathe is hoping will attract an older demographic as well as families.
Lacheau’s films have traditionally been box- office successes, including the Babysitting and Alibi.com franchises, which each drew between 2m and more than 4m.
Apollo is similarly hoping to draw multiple generations in February with Lisa Azuelos’ LOL 2.0 (Apollo) starring Sophie Marceau, the sequel to the 2009 hit LOL that sold nearly 4m tickets in France alone.
Another February release, Anthony Marciano’s basketball comedy drama The American Dream, could also be a box office slam dunk for Gaumont.
It is based on a true story about a pair of French friends who ended up becoming two of the biggest agents in the NBA. It stars Raphael Quenard, who has managed to balance a career in arthouse titles and more mainstream hits, including box office darling Beating Hearts. His co-star is popular actor-director Jean-Pascal Zadi and the producer is commercially savvy Quad Films.
SND’s anticipated YA contemporary French-language adaptation of The Phantom Of The Opera headlined by rising stars Deva Cassel and Julien de Saint Jean, alongside Romain Duris, is also a strong pull for younger audiences. It is scheduled for a September 23 release.
Studiocanal is also opening Christophe Barratier’s World War II drama Children Of The Resistance in February. Barratier’s Oscar and Bafta-nominated Les Choristes sold more than 8.5 million tickets in France. The new film is about a group of 13-year-olds in Nazi-occupied France who form an undercover cell to resist the Nazis. Studiocanal is hoping the film appeals to both young people on school holidays and an older demographic.
It also stars A Little Something Extra director and lead actor Artus.
Laughing matter
Local comedies tend to perform strongly in France. Pathe has two anticipated titles starting with 1980s-set buddy cop comedy Police Flash 80 in March and Nicolas and Bruno’s Alter Ego, starring Laurent Lafitte in a double role as a 40-something year-old man and his better-looking doppelganger. Lafitte is fresh off roles in late 2025 success stories The Richest Woman In The World and Class Reunion and a lead role in The Count Of Monte-Cristo.
Gaumont has high hopes for Intouchables directing duo Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache’s ninth feature Just An Illusion, a family comedy set in mid-1980s Paris starring local A-listers Camille Cottin and Louis Garrel. Their co-star is Pierre Lottin, star of box- office breakout The Marching Band and a slew of local hits including 2025’s God Save The Tuche.
In April, Gilles de Maistre, France’s resident king of the live action animal adventure film, returns with The Desert Child. De Maistre’s Mia And The White Lion, The Wolf And The Lion and Autumn And The Black Jaguar have all sold more than 1m tickets in France.
Looking to spice up summertime is Pathe’s not-yet-dated two-part historical thriller De Gaulle from filmmaker Antonin Baudry’s about General Charles de Gaulle and the French Resistance during WWII. With a splashy Cannes premiere likely to boost buzz, the first part De Gaulle: Tilting Iron will hit cinemas on June 10 followed by De Gaulle: The Sovereign Edge on July 3.
Simon Abkarian plays De Gaulle alongside a massive cast list that includes – but is not limited to - veteran and crowd-pleasing actors Benoit Magimel, Matthieu Kassovitz and Thierry Lhermitte, plus Anamaria Vartolomei, Niels Schneider, and Karim Leklou.
Another heritage film looking to woo audiences à la The Count Of Monte-Cristo is Fred Cavaye’s star-powered adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel Les Miserables which opens on December 9 via Studiocanal. Vincent Lindon and Tahar Rahim headline the talent-packed local cast list that also includes Benjamin Lavernhe, Noemie Merlant, Camille Cottin, Vassili Schneider, Marie Colomb and Megan Northam.
The distributor is trying to position it as “the event film of 2026,” and the local industry hopes it will be this year’s The Count Of Monte-Cristo - with even more fervour. Cavayé has said he adapted the book with a more modern, thriller-like style and has given more prominence to the female roles in the story.
Also not yet dated for Studiocanal is Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Violette, based on a best-selling novel about a caretaker at a cemetery in a small town whose routine is disrupted by the arrival of a local police chief as secrets of her past resurface. Driven by a strong IP, a starry cast (Leila Bekkhti, Matthias Schoenaerts, Melvil Poupaud, and Anouk Grinberg) and with Mediawan-backed Palomar and 24 25 Films on board, festival play is likely.
Auteurs
Films from well-known local arthouse directors to be released in 2026 are also getting exhibitors excited, including Olivier Assayas’ release this week of The Wizard Of The Kremlin for Gaumont, and the not-yet-dated Xavier Giannoli’s Second World War drama Rays And Shadows, starring Jean Dujardin and August Diehl set in an Occupation-era France.
A further World War II-era title, Laszlo Nemes’ Moulin about famed French resistance leader Jean Moulin, will hit cinemas in October via Studio TF1. Moulin stars Gilles Lellouche, an audience magnet both behind the camera (Beating Hearts, Sink Or Swim) and in front of it (Asterix & Obelisk: The Middle Kingdom, All Your Faces, Dog 51) and it is produced by La Vie en Rose’s Alain Goldman of Pitchipoi Productions.
It is one of the first major solo releases from Studio TF1, which will begin theatrically releasing its own films in French cinemas this year, itself a beacon of hope for the struggling local distribution sector.
“We are serious about our ambitions for theatrical distribution. We believe in the cinema experience and in the notion of shared emotions in movie theatres,” said Nathalie Toulza Madar, who heads up Studio TF1’s French film division.
A better year ahead?
In 2024, the top three French “locomotives” –comedy phenomenon A Little Something Extra (Pan Distribution/ 11m), literary epic The Count Of Monte-Cristo (Pathe/ 9.5m), and romantic musical Beating Hearts (Studiocanal/5m) – topped the French box office, racking up more than 25 million admissions between them.
Last year, only one local title – the fifth film in Pathe’s comedy franchise God Save The Tuches (3m) – made it into the top 10 compared to three last year. The market share for French films in 2025 was 37.7%, compared to 44.7% in 2024.
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