How social networks saved La Bataille De Gaulle from “disbandment”

Getting off to a bad start at the box office, Antonin Baudry’s diptych finally reversed the trend thanks to word of mouth… and an unexpected boost from YouTuber Inoxtag.

Nothing suggested such a turnaround.

Released on June 3, The Battle of Gaulle: The Iron Agethe first part of Antonin Baudry’s diptych, had a timid start. Despite an imposing promotional campaign, the hoped-for buzz did not work. And the expensive biopic was heading straight into the wall. But a month later, the General raised his cap!

The film exceeded 1.2 million admissions in France this week, and is on the way to becoming one of the great successes of the summer. And its sequel, The Battle of Gaulle: I write your name made a promising debut last weekend. If it will be complicated to make money with a budget of 85 million euros, the diptych should avoid the industrial catastrophe, once feared. Producer Ardavan Safaee, president of Pathé Films, explains how De Gaulle changed his destiny, by riding on excellent word of mouth and… social networks:

“We really felt the positive word of mouth take off in the third week. We were the only film to progress by 17%, while all the others followed a much more traditional trajectory“, deciphers Safaee for Variety. This dynamic was then amplified with the heatwave, which brought the public back to air-conditioned theaters, but also thanks to the Fête du Cinéma, during which attendance at the film jumped by 68%. The paradox is that Pathé had not skimped on resources from the start.

“We were everywhere, with a lot of posters, online advertising… We invested as if for a real blockbuster. But the public did not come immediately.”

According to the producer, the subject itself may have put off some of the spectators: “De Gaulle is a figure who can seem distant, institutional or very political. This probably scared some people. However, the film shows a face of the General that the public knows much less.”

To reach a younger audience, Pathé then tried something unprecedented in its 130 years of existence: partnering with YouTuber Inoxtag. The content creator organized several screenings with his community in Pathé cinemas, before speaking with director Antonin Baudry after the sessions. For Ardavan Safaee, this strategy had become essential to attract young audiences:

“Social media is now the place where discussions take place and young people learn about films. They are very savvy. The content must appear authentic. What we want is to show them the film, let them talk about it among themselves and create specific videos. As soon as you try to sell them something too directly, they immediately give up..”

The manager recalls that Pathé had already noted the power of social networks last year when Pierre Niney had largely contributed to the triumph of Count of Monte Cristo by relaying the film to its community.

But the influence of networks does not explain everything. If the bet worked, it is also because the critics followed this audacious vision of Charles de Gaulle, which moves away from the fixed image of the history textbooks. “We show his Don Quixote side, this man alone against everyone. I think it can speak to young people“. They were also able to easily identify with the heroes of the film, which gives a large place to youth in the Resistance:

“What touched them in the first film was seeing how high school students took to the streets and got involved on their own. They probably project themselves into this situation and wonder what they would have done in their place..”

Despite the concern, the funds invested, and the enormous work to promote the film, the President of Pathé Films assures that his studio will continue to produce films of this magnitude, “because there is a real public desire. It’s good for French cinema, it’s good for theaters. And this offers another image of our cinema than the one we have known in recent decades.”

But Ardavan Safaee also reminds us that this type of project must aim for exploitation on a global scale, to hope to make its budget profitable:

“For films of this size, the question is always the same: can they travel? They need to have this international dimension.”

He also confirms that the two aspects of De Gaulle have already been sold in many countries, notably in China. Their European release will begin at the end of August. A major challenge remains: the United States! Pathé has still not found an American distributor. For Ardavan Safaee, this is no surprise: “Films shot in a foreign language that correspond neither to auteur cinema nor to festival films are very difficult to position in the United States. Selling a mainstream film to a young audience, with an unknown cast there and which is not in English, is extremely complicated for American distributors.” In order to maximize its chances, Pathé is also offering two formats to international buyers: the two feature films for classic cinema exploitation, but also a six-episode mini-series, intended for television or streaming platforms. A way of giving a second life to this ambitious historical fresco which will have to end up paying for itself on the international market.