is Alexandre Astier’s new film a flop?

French cinema is banking heavily on the imagination of Alexandre Astier. This year, his KV2 is the most anticipated French-speaking production, the one which must shine at the highest steps of the podium at the end of the year. It must be said that the first film worked miracles, surpassing the 2.5 million entries in a few weekswhile the pandemic forced theaters to apply heavy restrictions throughout France. Without the health pass, with the school holidays as a springboard and while Hollywood offers itself a little respite before the end-of-year holidays, how are Arthur Pendragon and his gang doing? The figures are in, it’s not really time for dazzling growth…

And Kaamelott: Second part (part 1) is already in 13th place at the box office of the year in France, it is doing significantly worse than its predecessor. KV2 barely exceeds 600,000 entries in the first week.. In 2021, after seven days, the first film had already crossed the million admissions mark. Almost half as good, there is reason to worry.

This second film benefited from an otherwise substantial budget. According to CNC figures, this first part alone cost 19 million euros. This represents a total budget of 38 million euros for both films. For comparison, KV1 would have cost around 15 million euros. These suites therefore have less room to maneuver to become profitable.

The sequel in danger?

The coming weeks will undoubtedly allow Kaamelott: Second part (first part) to exceed one million entries, its results will be observed very closely by the industry. The sequel, however, is not really in danger, it has already been filmed and should be released in theaters in November 2026. On the other hand, Astier hopes to conclude his hero’s journey with a third and final filmwhich has not yet been validated. If KV2 disappoints in the long termand if its sequel struggles to attract spectators, SND may not want to continue its momentum and stop spending.

But this timid launch for KV2 is not attributed only to the quality of production. The film is released in a rather complicated context for French cinemas… Between January and August, theater attendance stood at 99.98 million entries. It’s between 16 and 18 million less than in 2024. This is a historic decline for the sector already largely weakened by the pandemic. French productions are struggling to find a place in the year’s rankings, dominated by franchises and live-action remakes. Alone God Save the Tuche is invited to the TOP 10 of the year. The film attracted 3 million spectators. Jean-Paul Rouve’s film had a million admissions during its first week. Kaamelott should therefore not surpass these results.

It remains to be seen whether fans of the franchise will return en masse to see this second part of the adventures of Arthur Pendragon and whether this will be enough to keep Kaamelott on the big screen long enough to deliver its conclusion. Critics are less enthusiastic, despite a major promotional campaign. The spell is broken?

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