‘Amélie’ Getting French Rerelease Ahead of Paris Olympics
Amélie, the 2001 fairy-tale romance from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, has arguably done more than any film before or since in promoting the Parisian tourism board version of the City of Lights. The quirky, irresistibly charming story of a shy Parisian do-gooder — Audrey Tautou in her breakout role — determined to bring joy to the lonely citizens of the French capital was an instant classic.
The movie, co-starring Mathieu Kassovitz, Jamel Debbouze, Isabelle Nanty and Dominique Pinon, was an awards season darling, receiving 13 nominations and four wins, including best film and best director, at France’s Césars, and picking up five Oscar nominations, including for best international film. It was also a box office phenomenon, selling some 9 million tickets in France and more than 30 million worldwide, for a $175 million global gross.
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Now, tourists heading to the city for the 2024 Summer Olympics will get a chance to revisit Amélie in Paris. Local distributor UGC is rereleasing the film in French cinemas, in its original version with English subtitles, hoping to attract some of the millions of international visitors descending on the city for the XXXIII Olympiad. The Amélie rerelease hits French theaters Wednesday, July 24.
According to figures from the Paris Tourist Office, more than 15 million people are expected to cram into the city for the Paris Olympic Games, which run from July 26 to Aug. 11, as well as the Paralympic Games, running Aug. 28 to Sept. 8. Those include around 2 million international visitors, many from the U.S. and the U.K.
Those looking to escape the crowds around the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower could do worse than check out Amélie on the big screen.
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