(Boursier.com) — The decline in the turnover ofEuropacorp to 35.3 million euros, compared to 41.5 million the previous fiscal year, is mainly explained by the absence of the release or delivery of new films, the start of production of which was disrupted by the Covid-19 epidemic. 19. The exploitation of the catalog thus constitutes the main part of the income, with a fall in particular in the income generated by the television series Taken released for more than four years (-3.5 million euros), the catalog of films is holding up well.
International Sales activity represented 8.9 million euros over the financial year, or around 25% of annual turnover, compared to 12 million euros during the previous financial year. Revenues mainly correspond to the significant royalties received from the films in the catalog (mainly Lucy and Taken 3), whereas the previous year also included the last deliveries of the Kursk and Elite Robbers films in China.
Distribution in France revenue was nil, no film being released over the period, compared to 0.6 million in 2020/2021, which corresponded to the latest accounts received for the exploitation in French theaters of the film We will end up together.
Video & VOD activity in France and the United States amounted to 1.4 million euros and represents approximately 4% of annual revenue, compared to 1.3 million euros in 2020/2021. It mainly includes VOD sales made in the United States and France on various titles (notably Taxi 5 in France).
Television & SVOD sales in France and the United States totaled revenue of €19.8 million for fiscal year 2021/2022, or 56% of revenue, compared to €19.0 million in course of the previous financial year. They are driven by the French market and correspond to the opening of broadcasting rights windows for films in the catalog such as Anna, Valérian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Taxi 5 and Lucy.
Revenue from the TV Series activity amounted to 2.2 million euros for the 2021/2022 financial year, i.e. approximately 6% of total revenue, compared to 5.6 million euros for the 2020/2021 financial year. This turnover corresponds to the international exploitation of the Taken series (royalties).
The Other item mainly corresponds to post-production activities, licenses, partnerships and co-production and private copying receipts. It represents revenue of 2.9 million euros (including 0.8 million for post-production activity), or 8% of revenue, and the same amount as the previous year.
Prospects displayed
The Group co-produced with the company LBP during the period of the Covid-19 epidemic the film written by Luc Besson and directed by Barthélémy Grossmann, Arthur Malédiction, for which it holds the distribution rights. It will be a horror-oriented spin-off from the world of Arthur and the Invisibles, which is scheduled for release on June 29, 2022 in French theaters.
EuropaCorp also produced June & John, an English-language film written and directed by Luc Besson during the spring of 2021 in Los Angeles, with a reduced budget and promising young actors, Luke Stanton Eddy and Matilda Price. The exploitation of the film will start during the last quarter of 2022.
The Group is also co-producing the film Dogman with LBP, written and directed by Luc Besson, which began shooting in April 2022 with Caleb Landry Jones in the lead role (Best Actor Award at Cannes in 2021 for the film Nitram) . The film will tell the incredible story of a young man, bruised by life, who finds his salvation thanks to the love of his dogs.
EuropaCorp launched at the recent Cannes Film Festival the marketing of its new project provisionally titled Weekend in Hong Kong, co-produced with the Hong Kong company 852 Films, co-written by Luc Besson and George Huang. This film will be directed by Olivier Megaton and starring Luke Evans and Josie Ho, star of song and Chinese-speaking cinema, in the main roles. Filming is normally scheduled to start in October 2022. This film perfectly embodies the universe that has made the great success of EuropaCorp films, based on action and suspense.