This Friday, September 15, 2023 at 9:10 p.m., Canal+ broadcasts Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom, a new part of the adventures of the famous Gaul. A film assassinated by critics and spectators upon its release, which does not prevent it from being one of the biggest successes of the current cinema year.
It’s the film that got people talking at the start of the year. When it hits theaters on February 1, 2023, Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdombroadcast this Friday, September 15, 2023 at 9:10 p.m. on the encrypted channel (and on myCANAL), promised something heavy. Casting, crazy, colossal budget (66 million euros), these new adventures arrived with a certain ambition. The story ? Helped by Graindemaïs (played by Jonathan Cohen), as well as by Princess Fu Yi and her faithful warrior Ta Han, Asterix and Obélix, played on screen by Guillaume Canet and Gilles Lellouche (who succeeds Gérard Depardieu), are heading towards China in order to save the empress, imprisoned by a felon prince.
Asterix and Obelix, The Middle Kingdom: excessive promotion
With this fifth version of the two mustachioed Gauls, Guillaume Canet had clear intentions: to bring a smile back to French cinema damaged by the Covid-19 pandemic: “A film like this is highly anticipated by the industry. They are very friendly to me, they know that if it does not work, there will not necessarily be many others today in France“, he explained, not without fear, in an interview given to France Inter during the promotion of the film. Let’s talk about promotion. It is considered excessive and annoys both the public and the press. In an interview given to Tele-LeisureGérard Darmon, who played Amonbofis in Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatrahad not hidden his incomprehension in the face of all this deluge of hatred: “This did not deserve to fall headlong into Guillaume Canet and Gilles Lellouche. There was some very good and some not so good. Yes, the film cost a lot of money. We had the right to expect more. But where does this hatred come from? For his part, Danny Boon talks about “real bashing”.
The rest under this advertisement
A box office success for Guillaume Canet’s film on the adventures of the most famous Gauls
And yet, despite the avalanche of negative reviews and the low rating on AlloCiné (1.8 out of 5), Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom and its share of gags nonetheless remain entertainment for the general public, ideal for a family cinema trip. It marks the best start for a French production in 15 years, attracting nearly 1.8 million curious people to cinemas. After 14 weeks of operation, it is the third biggest theatrical success of the current year with no less than 4.5 million admissions according to CBO Box Office.
