Pathé Films
Worthy of an American blockbuster, Pathé’s double film on General de Gaulle was initially scheduled to be released one month apart between the beginning of June and the beginning of July.
We must save the box office score of The Battle of Gaulle. Released in France on June 3, after a prestigious presentation at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, the first part of the diptych The Battle of Gaulle is far from experiencing the hoped-for success. A fate all the more damaging as it is the biggest budget for French cinema this year.
Since its release, The Battle of Gaulle garnered just over 380,000 entries between June 3 and 9. Figures far from being ridiculous, but necessarily disappointing after a week of operation. In comparison, the sixth opus of Scary Moviereleased the same day, did better with more than 390,000 admissions even though it benefited from a weaker distribution than the film with Simon Abkarian. 566 theaters are showing the first part of the biopic on Charles de Gaulle, compared to less than 500 for Scary Movie.
Faced with this observation of failure and while the second film of the diptych, I write your namewas expected in theaters on July 3, just one month after the first part, Pathé opted for an express shift, which was announced on the sly this Thursday, June 11. The objective: to stem the announced crash at the box office despite generally positive feedback.
A promising week in sight
The release date of The Battle of Gaulle: I write your name was thus brought forward by one week, from July 3 to June 26. An understandable strategy on the part of the French producer and distributor, who is banking everything on the attractiveness of the Film Festival to ensure continuity in theaters from one film to the next.
From June 28 to July 1, the event will return with its unique price of 5 euros per session. Enough to invite a large number of spectators to try the De Gaulle experience in theaters, if we are to believe the strategy put in place by Pathé.
It is above all a way of limiting the damage with a burst of entries facilitated by the advantageous prices, necessary as this diptych was expensive, very expensive. According to official figures declared to the CNC, the budget for this ambitious diptych flirting with the codes of the American blockbuster would be 75.2 million euros. Which makes it the most expensive French production of the year 2026, although this budget includes both films.
A high-risk double summer outing
However, some estimates suggest that budget overruns would have increased the production bill by The Battle of Gaulle. D’après une enquête du Point Returning to the difficulties encountered during the production of the two films, several professionals in the sector suggest that the final bill would be more like 85 million euros. Even 100 million, according to the highest estimates.
Pathé therefore hopes for a return on investment commensurate with the amounts committed to transposing the Second World War to the screen from the general’s point of view. It must be said that if the first film fails to attract spectators to theaters at a time when Hollywood is going to flood cinemas with blockbusters summer and family (Disclosure DayMinions and monsters, Toy Story 5, Supergirl, Vaiana, or L’Odyssée by Christopher Nolan), the entries of the second film may have even more difficulty in raising its final cumulative score at the French box office.
Déjà à la peine face à Scary MoviePathé’s mission proves even more complicated with the start of the Football World Cup. Pathé, like other cinema networks, is doubling down on ingenuity and communication to try to generate interest in cinema releases in June and July and to compete with the enthusiasm expected around this World Cup.
To save General de Gaulle from disgrace, Pathé will have to rely above all on excellent word of mouth around the first part to hope for a miracle at the box office in the weeks to come.
