Housekeeper Novel Explodes: Sales Match the Hype?

French Box Office from December 24 to December 31, 2025

1 – The Cleaning Lady: 165,993 admissions (78,904 in previews)

2 – SpongeBob SquarePants The Movie: One for All, All Pirates!: 57,814 admissions (20,918 in previews)

3 – A German Childhood – Amrum Island, 1945: 9,412 admissions (including 7,009 previews)

4 – The Worst Mother in the World: 2,329 admissions

5 – Royal Wedding: 37 admissions

Key Takeaways

The first week of the year-end holiday season, traditionally a boom time for cinemas, is marked by a highly anticipated release: the cinematic adaptation of the best-selling novel “The Cleaning Lady.” Directed by Paul Feig, the film garnered 165,993 admissions since its Wednesday release.

An impressive start, especially notable given it was up against heavyweights like Avatar 3 and Zootopia 2, which have been dominating the box office for several weeks. Despite this stiff competition, the film has managed to stand out as the blockbuster event of the holiday season.

Featuring Hollywood star Sydney Sweeney, who gained attention last year in the hit romantic comedy “Everything but You” (626,283 total admissions), “The Cleaning Lady” significantly outperformed that film’s launch, which drew only 9,646 viewers on its opening day.

This promising start for the adaptation should benefit from the second week of school holidays in France to maintain its strong momentum in theaters.

The fourth feature film about SpongeBob SquarePants and Bikini Bottom drew 57,814 viewers on its opening day, Wednesday. This is a noticeable decline compared to the previous film released in 2015, which had 134,917 admissions on its first day, eventually surpassing one million viewers over its theatrical run.

This more modest start is largely due to fierce competition in the family segment, notably from Zootopia 2. The Disney animated film, now in its fourth week, has already surpassed 5 million admissions, beating the first installment released in 2016, which had accumulated 4.85 million viewers in France.

It remains to be seen if “SpongeBob SquarePants The Movie: One for All, All Pirates!” can make up for this moderate start with its longevity in theaters and its release during the peak holiday season.

Third in the box office this week, “A German Childhood – Amrum Island, 1945” totaled 9,412 admissions on its opening day. A solid start, significantly better than Fatih Akin’s previous film, Rheingold (2023), which attracted only 1,168 viewers on its release.

With this new dramatic feature, the German filmmaker returns to a more personal style. He explores the wanderings and learning experiences of a young boy on Amrum Island during the final months of World War II.

The film also marks a reunion between Fatih Akin and Diane Kruger, who won the Best Actress award at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival for In the Fade. Kruger also starred this year in David Cronenberg’s “The Shrouds,” alongside Vincent Cassel, which had 5,555 admissions on its opening day.

Finally, the new French comedy “The Worst Mother in the World,” starring Louise Bourgoin and Muriel Robin, recorded 2,329 admissions on its opening day. A modest start for the film by Pierre Mazingarbe, which struggles to make its mark in a landscape dominated by other well-established French comedies.

For comparison, “Chasse gardée 2” still holds the third place in the weekly box office, two weeks after its release. Led by Didier Bourdon and Hakim Jemili, this comedy had a strong launch with 91,185 admissions on its first day, and has now exceeded 500,000 viewers.

A success that casts a shadow over “The Worst Mother in the World,” which faces direct competition in the same field and will need to rely on word-of-mouth to hope for a lasting presence in theaters.

Figures: CBO – Box-Office

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