The MarchOf The Penguins has officially become the most successful Frenchfilm ever at the US box office with sales of $66.8m since its June release.

Luc Jacquet's film has beat out Luc Besson's The FifthElement which took $66m in 1997 and previously outdistanced Jean-PierreJeunet's Amelie which now moves to third place with $34m.

The US version of the film, distributed by WarnerIndependent Pictures, was reworked from the original French with a voice overadded by Morgan Freeman.

France's decision on its Oscar entry will be announced nextweek with Penguins among the top favorites.

Its competition includes Jacques Audiard's The Beat ThatMy Heart Skipped, Christian Carion's Merry Christmas,and Cedric Klapisch's Russian Dolls.