news culture Asterix and Obelix The Middle Empire: this actor experienced an ordeal on the set
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The irreducible Gauls are back at the cinema in February 2023 and intend to win at the box office. But before success rose to the head of a “hand-picked” cast, the filming was not necessarily tender for some of them.
Summary
- A difficult shoot
- A historic first week
A difficult shoot
Guillaume Canet’s film offered itself the services of the most popular actors and actresses as well as many cameos which come and go according to the needs (or not for that matter) of the scenario. Thus Vincent Cassel, Marion Cotillard, Jonathan Cohen, Gilles Lellouche, Julie Chen, Leanna Chea and of course Guillaume Canet, but also Pierre Richard, rub shoulders on the big screen. The shooting of the scenes of the latter was a real ordeal for the main interested party.
He became famous in 1972 for his role in Le Grand Blond with a black shoe, the 88-year-old French actor suffered from significant and painful attacks of osteoarthritis in 2021, which turned out to be disabling and restrictive both for him and for the production teams. In an interview given to our Swiss colleagues from The morning, PIerre Richard spoke about the filming conditions of Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Empire. His experience is tinged with bitterness.
I didn’t shoot for long, because at the time I still had a lot of pain in my left leg. I had a massive osteoarthritis attack. I came to the set with crutches and, when we said “motor!”, they took them away to give me a big wooden stick.
I couldn’t move two meters so much I was in pain. Surprisingly, it can’t be seen. The paradox was also that I couldn’t walk, but I couldn’t stand sitting. I let you imagine my mood, after three hours of make-up… – Pierre Richard (Panoramix – Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Empire)
A historic first week
Since December 14, 2022 and the release of Avatar: The Way of the Water in cinemas, the French box office is head and shoulders dominated by James Cameron’s new film. With its 13.68 million admissions after 8 weeks of operation, Avatar 2 climbed to 17th place among the greatest cinema successes in France. However, Avatar’s reign came to an end last week.
Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Empire recorded no less than 1,362,290 admissions in the space of 7 days, to which must be added the 275,000 spectators who discovered the film during the previews. The fifth live action adventure of the irreducible Gauls has already accumulated 1,637,948 admissions. A question remains. Can the feature film directed by Guillaume Canet with the latter and Gille Lellouche in the title roles keep up this pace? With a budget of 65 million euros excluding marketing costs, this trip to China must reach 6 million spectators to be considered a success.
Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom is screened in French cinemas from February 1, 2023.
