Antonin Baudry’s “De Gaulle: Résistance,” Pathé’s ambitious two-part historical epic about the making of Charles de Gaulle as a resistance leader, has fought its way back into a leading position at the French box office after an underwhelming start.
Driven by strong word-of-mouth, younger viewers and a heatwave that sent crowds back into air-conditioned theaters, the saga’s first opus — described by Variety‘s review as “reminiscent of a vintage Hollywood blockbuster“ — has now crossed 1.2 million admissions in France since its June 3 release, following a world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
Instead of losing steam over time, “De Gaulle: Resistance” saw ticket sales surge 17.2% during its third week, before skyrocketing by 68% last weekend, benefitting from La Fête du Cinéma — France’s annual nationwide discount ticket event — as well as upbeat reactions from the public.
“We really felt the positive buzz kick in during the third week,” Safaee said, adding that the uptick is not only tied to the heatwave. “We were the film that grew by 17%, while others continued on a more normal trajectory,” he said. That momentum has carried into the fourth week. On June 24, admissions were even up by 114%. For Pathé, the late surge is especially important because it released the second installment, “De Gaulle: I Write Your Name,” three weeks after the first, on June 26.
The films are based on Julian Jackson’s book “De Gaulle: A Certain Idea of France” and stars Simon Abkarian as General Charles de Gaulle, alongside Benoît Magimel as Pierre Koenig, Mathieu Kassovitz as François Darlan, Niels Schneider as General Leclerc, Simon Russell Beale as Winston Churchill and Campbell Scott as Franklin D. Roosevelt, while Florian Lesieur and Anamaria Vartolomei (“Mickey 17”) embody the young faces of the Resistance.
Pathé’s most ambitious undertaking since “The Count of Monte Cristo” and “The Three Musketeers” — which also came out in two parts — “De Gaulle” was budgeted in the $85-million range and marketed by Pathé like a proper blockbuster. But it had a slow start at the box office.
“When the film came out, despite a very strong promotional campaign — we were everywhere, with a lot of outdoor advertising, online marketing, and we really spent like we would on a blockbuster — the film didn’t immediately attract audiences.” The challenge, Safaee said, was that de Gaulle is a figure who can feel distant, institutional or politically loaded, which may have “scared off” some viewers. But the film shows a version of the general that is less familiar.
While the core turnout for “De Gaulle” was initially older and male, Pathé has been working to broaden its reach, especially among younger viewers. The company was able to connect with that demo by teaming with YouTube star Inoxtag, who hosted watch parties at Pathé cinemas with his community and took part in post-screening discussions with Baudry.
It was the first time in its 130-year history that Pathé enlisted an internet creator to help position the title as something that could speak to a new generation.
“Social media is where conversations are happening and where young people get informed, especially about films,” Safaee said. “They’re very savvy, so content has to feel genuine. What we want is to show them the film, let them talk to each other, and create specific videos. When you try to sell them something too directly, they are immediately put off and leave.”
The company previously experienced the power of social media when French actor Pierre Niney promoted “The Count of Monte Cristo” to his followers and helped turn it into the second-biggest box office hit of 2024.
“We’re showing his Don Quixote side, a man-alone-against-everyone side, and I think that can speak to young people,” said the exec, who added that the depiction of youth resistance has also resonated. “What touches them in the first film is how much the youth, the high school students, went out and protested on their own. They probably project themselves into that today and ask what they would have done in their place,” Safaee continued.
Asked what Pathé has learned from the experience, Safaee said making two films back-to-back remains a daunting challenge, creatively and commercially. “We’re very proud that these two films on De Gaulle exist, and we think the films are extremely well made and will remain in French cinema for a long time.” But, he added, “not every subject and not every project lends itself to two films. It is complicated in writing, financing, production and release. Everything becomes more difficult.”
Still, Safaee said Pathé has no intention of stepping away from this type of big, theatrical French filmmaking. “We certainly won’t stop making films of this scale, because we feel there is an audience desire,” he said. “It’s good for French cinema, it’s good for theaters. We are not the only ones doing it — Studiocanal does it, SND does it, others will do it. I think everyone has understood that these films also give another vision of French cinema than what we have known in recent decades.”
One major difference with “The Three Musketeers” and “The Count of Monte Cristo,” however, is that they are international IP, whereas “De Gaulle” is not a globally recognizable literary brand — it’s a French historical figure.
“These films are more difficult to make when they don’t have a very strong international dimension,” Safaee said. “So the question now will always be: can this film travel? When we talk about films of that scale, they also need significant international value.”
Safaee said the two parts have been sold widely, including to China, with European releases set to begin at the end of August. The U.S. remains the key unsold territory, though he said he hopes a deal will close soon. Pathé is also offering buyers the possibility of airing the project as a six-part series for television or platforms. In France, it will air on Canal+ after its theatrical run, and will then stream on Disney+ and be broadcast on TF1.
Speaking of the particular difficulty in finding a North American distributor, Safaee argued that works “shot in a foreign language and don’t fall into the usual audience category for auteur or festival films” are harder to position in the U.S. “Marketing to a more mainstream, younger audience with non-English-language films, with a cast that is obviously not known in the U.S., is very complicated for American distributors,” he observed.
The French company is currently orchestrating a big push into the English-language landscape. It recently partnered with Vendôme Pictures (“CODA”) to launch a new production and finance banner whose inaugural slate includes Morten Tyldum’s “Ibelin,” which stars Charlie Plummer and Stephen Graham. It’s also backing Yapluka, Dimitri Rassam’s new investment vehicle whose projects include “Slaying the Badger,” with Tobias Lindholm (“A War”) attached to direct, and is expanding its U.S. presence around former FilmNation executive Ben Browning.
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