Full house for “Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Empire” on the first day of its release in France | Movie theater

Released on February 1 in 950 theaters in France, the blockbuster attracted precisely 463,026 spectators, including 275,658 in preview, and therefore now sits at the top of the French box office. It is a short head ahead of “La Ch’tite Famille” by Dany Boon (451,530 admissions for its first day in 2018).

As BFMTV notes, with the winter holidays starting Friday in France, it’s a safe bet that the feature film should quickly exceed one million admissions. It is nevertheless difficult to predict if the blockbuster will be a hit over the length, word of mouth having not had time to show its effects.

For it to be profitable, the big-budget film (65 million euros all the same) must have at least a score of 6 million admissions, according to RTBF film columnist Hughes Dayez, who, at the like his French colleagues, was not kind to the film, calling it an “absolute failure”.

“A turnip”, “never funny”: “Asterix and Obelix” scarred by criticism