Christian Clavier, one of the kings of the French box office

If we look at the figures a little more closely, we can even say that the former member of Splendid is one of the most popular French actors of the post-war period.

Whether he plays the central character or plays a secondary role, Christian Clavier’s films have accumulated more than 122 million admissions! A colossal figure, which places the actor in 11th place in the ranking of French actors, behind Lino Ventura and ahead of Philippe Noiret. The top 10 is no surprise. There we find heavyweights of French comedy, like Bourvil or Fernandel, Stakhanovists such as Gérard Depardieu, Michel Serrault and Michel Galabru (all three have played in more than 110 films) and icons like Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon. But the champion of champions remains Louis de Funès. With more than 272 million entries, the unforgettable Saint-Tropez gendarme should still hold first place for many years.

The number of entries is not the only indicator of popularity. It is “easier” to exceed 100 million admissions in 133 films (Philippe Noiret) than in only 34 films, like Jean Marais. If we take the same fifteen players, seven of them have an average of more than 2 million admissions. Christian Clavier, sixth in this ranking, is part of this restricted circle. In the lead, we find Bourvil, who even allowed himself to speak on familiar terms with the 4 million spectators on average.

In the game of percentages, Clavier is getting a bit of a boost, with 44% of his films becoming millionaires. Once again, de Funès crushes the competition in this category, with an almost perfect score of 86 millionaire films out of 87 (99%). In case you’re wondering, the ugly duckling of his career is called “The Curious Desire of Mr. Bard,” a film released in 1954.

On the other hand, there is one area in which Christian Clavier is the undisputed master: that of colossal successes, that is to say those which have exceeded the mark of ten million tickets sold. The actor is in the casting of 4 of the 23 French and foreign films which reached this figure. These are “Visitors”, “Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra”, “Bronzés 3” and “What have we done to the Good Lord?” »

He is ahead of Bourvil, with three films (“Le Corniaud”, “La Grande vadrouille” and “Le Jour le plus longest”). With the third part of “Visitors” Christian Clavier perhaps has the opportunity to pass five, even if the previous opus, “The Corridors of Time”, had stopped at 8 million entries.