France opens arms to 'Ch'tis'

March 14, 2008 The first half of this year was supposed to be all about "Asterix and the Olympic Games," the most expensive French movie ever, with ambitions to steamroll its way into the record books. [...] the $113 million comic-strip adaptation has been blown away by a comedy contender that no one had tipped for boxoffice glory. Made on a budget of $16.5 million, "Ch'tis" has overtaken "Asterix's" six-week cume of 7 million ticket sales in just two weeks, racking up a staggering 8.95 million admissions through Tuesday.

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