French Hit 'Untouchables' Tops German Charts

COLOGNE, Germany - French culture clash comedy Untouchables, which has earned some $150 million in France, has pushed past David Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows to top the German box office charts.

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Distributor figures suggest Untouchables has sold around 500,000 tickets since its Jan. 5 bow in Germany, for a total box office of close to $5 million. German distributor Senator nearly tripled the number of prints - from 159 to 412 - for Untouchables after the film bowed in third place last weekend. The extra push paid off, and the film soared past its Hollywood competition.

Director Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakasch's story of an unlikely friendship between a black ex-con and a wheelchair-bound white aristocrat has topped the French charts since its release last November.  

If Untouchables can keep up the pace, it could overtake Bienvenue chez les Ch'tis (2008) and Amelie (2001) as the most successful French release in the territory. Amelie, with 3.2 million admissions and and a total box office take of around $22 million, represents the high-water mark for French films in Germany.