Last Updated on 16 January 2026 by frenchflicks
When we talk about the US box office, France usually holds its own better than almost any other international player. French cinema has a long history of winning over American audiences, often proving that people are willing to look past the subtitles if the movie speaks to them.
From the quirky world of Amelie (Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain), the rough world of Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose (La Môme) to the heavy hitters that clean up at the César Awards (The Artist, Cyrano de Bergerac), the French film industry has a serious track record in the States.
In this ranking, we’re looking at the top 20 French-produced French-language films that pulled in the highest admissions and revenue at the US domestic box office.
Note on Criteria: To keep this movie list authentic to the French spirit, we have excluded English-language Europacorp hits by Luc Besson like Lucy, Taken, or The Fifth Element. While these were massive worldwide, we are focusing on the French-language gems and landmark movies production that defined national cinema.
The All-Time Top 20 French Box-Office Hit in America
| Rank | Film Title | Year | US Box Office (Approx.) |
| 1 | March of the Penguins (La Marche de l’empereur) | 2005 | $77.4 Million |
| 2 | The Artist (Silent Film) | 2011 | $44.7 Million |
| 3 | Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain) | 2001 | $33.2 Million |
| 4 | La Cage aux Folles | 1979 | $20.4 Million |
| 5 | Brotherhood of the Wolf (Le Pacte des loups) | 2002 | $11.3 Million |
| 6 | La Vie En Rose (La Môme) | 2007 | $10.3 Million |
| 7 | The Intouchables (Intouchables) | 2012 | $10.2 Million |
| 8 | Cyrano de Bergerac | 1990 | $9.6 Million |
| 9 | Indochine | 1992 | $7.0 Million |
| 10 | La Cage aux Folles II | 1981 | $7.0 Million |
| 11 | Amour | 2012 | $6.7 Million |
| 12 | The Closet (Le Placard) | 2001 | $6.7 Million |
| 13 | The Chorus (Les Choristes) | 2004 | $6.4 Million |
| 14 | Anatomy of a Fall (Anatomie d’une chute) | 2023 | $5.1 Million |
| 15 | Jean de Florette | 1987 | $5.0 Million |
| 16 | A Very Long Engagement (Un long dimanche…) | 2004 | $4.9 Million |
| 17 | The Dinner Game (Le Dîner de Cons) | 1999 | $4.1 Million |
| 18 | Manon of the Spring (Manon des Sources) | 1987 | $3.9 Million |
| 19 | Harry, He’s Here to Help (Harry, un ami…) | 2001 | $3.8 Million |
| 20 | Winged Migration (Le Peuple Migrateur) | 2003 | $3.7 Million |
Now you know! The highest-grossing French film of all time in America is March of the Penguins, followed by The Artist and Amélie. These three movies really shed a new light on French cinema and helped pave the way for many more in America.
The Breakdown
- Silence is golden: Sometimes not having any dialogue can actually help! That is what March of the Penguins and The Artist have in common, even though the former featured an English voice-over for its U.S. release.
- The Jeunet Magic: Amélie and Alien Ressurection Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet really hit the jackpot with Amélie. Starring Audrey Tautou as the title character Amélie Poulain, the film was a million-dollar hit that basically everyone in the early 2000s owned on DVD. Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s style helped it become one of the highest grossing films on this list.
- High Admissions and Cultural Hits From César Awards winners like La Vie En Rose with Marion Cotillard to the classic comedy of La Cage aux Folles, France knows how to make a movie that travels. Even if huge franchises like Asterix and Obelix or the recent Monte Cristo don’t always hit the same box office heights in the US as they do in Europe, they remain huge parts of the national cinema story.
- The Depardieu effect: You can’t really talk about French film without Gérard Depardieu – although he’s currently facing many accusations by women. But for a while, he was the go-to actor for big French movies. Which is why he was featured in Cyrano de Bergerac, La Vie en Rose and The Closet, three of the biggest French films in America.
The Golden Age usually refers to the 1930s. This was the era of Poetic Realism, where directors like Jean Renoir and Marcel Carné made classics like The Grand Illusion. Another huge peak was the 1960s with the French New Wave, which changed how movies were made globally.
The all-time domestic record holder for a foreign-language film is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), which made over $128 million in the US. Lately, movies like Parasite have also come close to that level of crossover success.
The top spot actually belongs to the documentary March of the Penguins (La Marche de l’empereur) with $77.4 million. If you’re only counting scripted movies, then Amélie is the winner with $33.2 million, followed by the original La Cage aux Folles.
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