Dhanush's The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir crosses million dollar milestone at French box office

Dhanush’s The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir, which hit the theaters in France on 30 May, has earned nearly $1.18 million (Rs 8 Cr) in three weeks since its release. Now, Dhanush has become the first hero in Tamil cinema to score a one million grosser in France, one of the thriving overseas markets for Vijay and Rajinikanth’s films. Vijay’s Mersal is currently the highest-grossing Tamil film in France with more than 30,000 admissions. Between 30 May and 3 June, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir grossed nearly half a million ($500,439) in earnings and was placed at the sixth position in the box-office chart in France, just below Avengers: Infinity War, which pulled in $648,041 during the same period. Sony Pictures Releasing France has distributed Fakir in France. [caption id=“attachment_4612221” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Dhanush and Bérénice Bejo in a still from The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir. Image via Facebook[/caption] The film released in Portugal and Russia on 14 June and has raked in $49,889 (Rs 34 lakhs) and $13,184 (Rs 9 lakhs) in respective countries. On 26 June, Notorious Pictures is releasing the film in Italy, and Bir Film will present the movie in Turkey on 29 June. Best Film has acquired the rights for Poland, where it is slated to hit theaters on 20 July. Based on French author Romain Puértolas’ best-selling 2014 French novel, The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe, the Indo-French co-production is directed by Canadian filmmaker Ken Scott. Luc Bossi, best known for co-writing the French romance tragedy Mood Indigo, has written Fakir along with Romain Puértolas. The movie is slated to release in Germany on 16 August. Little Red Car Films, the production house which represents the film from India, is reportedly planning the Indian release in July end or early August. The makers are targeting a simultaneous release in Tamil, English, and Hindi languages in India, as was  reported  earlier. Several foreign distributors lapped up the film’s international rights for various territories at the 38th edition of the American Film Market in November 2017. The rights to Japan, Brunei, UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Israel, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Spain have been already sold. Dhanush plays the role of a street-smart magician, Ajatashatru, who embarks on an adventurous journey in Europe. The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir is jointly produced by Little Red Car Films, Brio Films, Vamonos Films, M! Capital Ventures, Impact Films, Aurora Global Media Capital, Scope Pictures, TF1 Studio and Aleph Motion Pictures. Titled Vaazhakaiya Thedi Naanum Ponen in Tamil, the film has Dhanush sharing the screen with Oscar-nominated actors Bérénice Bejo (The Artist) and Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips). Also starring Netflix hit Jessica Jones fame actress Erin Moriarty and Abel Jafri (Timbuktu), Fakir has cinematography by Vincent Mathias. Dhanush is currently busy with Balaji Mohan’s gangster drama Maari 2, Gautham Menon’s romantic thriller Enai Nokki Paayum Thota and Vetrimaaran’s action drama Vada Chennai, which is scheduled for release in September. The pre-production work of his untitled sophomore directorial, which will be bankrolled by Mersal producer Thenandal Studios, is also underway. Next month, Dhanush will resume the shooting of Enai Nokki Paayum Thota and finish the project. He also has a gangster-action film with director Karthik Subbaraj, which will kickstart after the Mercury director completes his ongoing project with Rajinikanth and Sun Pictures.