Building boom boosts Gaumont first-half net
French-lingo pix did big biz
The latter is largely due to an overall 25% jump in ticket sales across France, with Gaumont's circuit of hardtops doing 32% more business, bumping six-month sales to $85.4 million.
Making their mark
A nationwide and industrywide multiplex building boom seems to be paying off. Gaumont's finance director, Michele Huiban, chalks the increased revenues up to theaters opened in 1997 that are now making their mark. One IMAX and 24 traditional screens were also added to the Gaumont landscape early in 1998 with plans for continuous implementation through 1999.
Although this is the second time in Gaumont's 100-plus-year history that revenues have exceeded the 1 billion franc mark, decreases in all areas except exhibition were also announced.
This can largely be explained by the exceptional success of 1997's "The Fifth Element," whose international sales accounted for more than half of first-semester revenues alone.
Big business
Still, French-lingo pics have done big business this year for the Gallic giant. Notably, "The Dinner Game" and "The Visitors II," whose combined sales totaled $87 million by the end of June tally, the first time in a decade that two local pics have achieved such a score over one semester.
Although they are enjoying somewhat of a renaissance by continuing to move away from a traditional conservative image through a burgeoning slate of multimedia, television and film productions, Gaumont declined to predict year-end results.
