Hard blow for Dany Boon: in 2019, the film “Le Dindon” which he carries alongside Guillaume Gallienne experiences a bitter failure at the French box office. Four months before knowing a new one with “The Lion”.
Le Dindon: Jalil Lespert adapts Feydeau
Released in September 2019, the film Turkey directed by Jalil Lespert is freely adapted from the eponymous play by Georges Feydeau created in 1896. The cast includes Dany Boon, Guillaume Gallienne, Alice Pol, Ahmed Sylla, Laure Calamy and Camille Lellouche. American actor Holt McCallany (mindhunter) also appears in the credits.
The pitch:
Monsieur de Pontagnac (Guillaume Gallienne) fell in love with a pretty young woman. What he hadn’t foreseen is that this is none other than Victoire (Alice Pol), the wife of one of his friends, Vatelin (Dany Boon). And if the notary takes it rather well, Victoire, she is not so easy to handle. Above all, the misadventure launched in their society a subject –
A failure at the box office
While it had a solid cast and a budget of 14 million euros, Turkey was a resounding business failure. Indeed, while it was present in 693 theaters in France, the film only accumulated 241,530 admissions (i.e. approximately 1.7 million euros in revenue). This is one of the biggest flops of French cinema. The critics had also not been very tender with the film when it was released, which did not help matters.
Two failures for Dany Boon
While he can boast of having worn the second biggest hit of all time (Welcome to the Ch’tis) at the French box office just behind Titanic, Dany Boon had two big failures in quick succession. Indeed, four months after Turkeyhe once again faced the cruel box office game with comedy Lion. With a budget similar to the first, the film attracted only 446,589 curious people in theaters.
