Nicky Larson et le parfum de Cupidon

Nicky Larson et le parfum de Cupidon (French pronunciation: [niki laʁsɔn e paʁfœ̃ kypidɔ̃]; lit.'Nicky Larson and Cupid's Perfume'; also known as City Hunter) is a 2018 French action comedy film directed by Philippe Lacheau who also co-wrote the screenplay with Julien Arruti and Pierre Lacheau. It is an adaptation of the Japanese manga and anime series City Hunter (known as Nicky Larson in France) by Tsukasa Hojo, who agreed to the adaptation after reading the script.[7][3] The film features Philippe Lacheau, Élodie Fontan, Tarek Boudali and Julien Arruti in lead roles, along with Didier Bourdon, Kamel Guenfoud, Sophie Mousel and Pamela Anderson in supporting roles. It was first released on 6 February 2019.[2]

Nicky Larson et le parfum de Cupidon
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPhilippe Lacheau[1]
Written byJulien Arruti[2][3]
Philippe Lacheau[2][3]
Pierre Lacheau[3][2]
Based onCity Hunter
by Tsukasa Hojo
Produced byChristophe Cervoni[3]
Marc Fiszman[2]
Starring
Music byMichael Tordjman[2]
Maxime Desprez[2]
Production
companies
Les Films du 24[3]
Axel Films[3][2]
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing International (France)[3]
Pathé Films AG1 (Swiss)[3]
Release dates
  • 15 December 2018 (2018-12-15) (premiere)
  • 6 February 2019 (2019-02-06)[4][1]
Running time
91 minutes[3][5]
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench
Box office$14.7 million[6]

Synopsis

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Nicky Larson is an unusual private investigator, as talented a street fighter as he is a sniper. He is often called on to solve problems that no one can solve.[1][8] Aided by his partner Laura, he offers multiple services to his customers, more or less dangerous. But, as professional and famous as he is, he has a major flaw: his particularly exacerbated penchant for the fairer sex, which poses a lot of worries to Laura.

One of his clients entrusts to him one day a mission to protect "Cupid's perfume", a fragrance that makes anyone who wears it absolutely irresistible.[1] But a moment of distraction on Larson's part allow thugs to seize it.[2] Nicky Larson must then recover the perfume,[2] which involves a trip to Monaco..

Cast

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The characters[2] are named as they are known in the French dubbed version of the anime series, while the Japanese dubbed version of the film uses their original names.[citation needed]

Promotion

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At the Comic Con Paris in October 2018, it was revealed that Jean-Paul Césari and Vincent Ropion would make cameos in the film. The first being the interpreter of the French credits song of the animated series while the second is the French voice of the main character.[14]

Release

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Nicky Larson et le parfum de Cupidon was previewed over most of France on 15 December 2018, before its national release on 6 February 2019, the same in Switzerland.[3] 13 February 2019, the film was released in Belgium,[3] on 14 March 2019 in Thailand and on 23 May 2019 in Russia under the title Undercover Playboy.[3] The film debuted in Japan on 29 November 2019 as City Hunter the Movie: Shijōsaikō no Mission (シティーハンター THE MOVIE 史上最香のミッション, City Hunter the Movie: The Greatest Mission Ever).[15]

Box office

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The film debuted at #3 in France, with an opening weekend gross of €3,111,807 ($3,515,249).[16] In France, the film sold more than 1 million tickets and grossed €8,817,024 ($10,031,595) by 24 February 2019.[17] As of 31 March 2019, the film has sold 1,684,350 tickets and grossed $12,898,742 in France.[18][19]

The film released in Japan on 29 November 2019, debuting at #8 and grossing ¥47,883,700 from 38,676 admissions in its first three days.[20] As of 15 December 2019, the film has grossed ¥144,586,600[21] ($1,321,874) in Japan.[6] In total, the film has sold 1,903,808 tickets[22] and grossed $14,702,744 worldwide, as of 15 December 2019.[6]

Reception

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On December 14, 2018, the day before the premiere, Simon Riaux, in his review for Écran large, wrote: ... "the film sends a handful of sometimes hilarious images, sometimes imbued with unexpected prettiness (...) in subjective vision in quilted pursuit", but "the story manages to hold an astonishing harmony between pastiche and first degree. (...) The dialogues appear more than once as the main weak point of the team".[23] Frédéric Mignard from Avoir-alire admits that it is "probably the most sympathetic film of its author since the Babysittings, far from the recent shipwrecks in comic strip adaptation, like that of Gaston Lagaffe. (...) To tell the truth, the misunderstandings gags and the astonishing situations are typical of the work of Lacheau (...) and as one is never bored nor has the impression of wasting his time, one mays pardon him his few artistic wanderings."[1]

On the other side, Alexandre Lazerges of GQ wrote that "Philippe Lacheau is worse than Qu'est-ce qu'on a encore fait au Bon Dieu?, destroying a cult manga despite the presence of Pamela Anderson and Dorothée"[24]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Nicky Larson et le Parfum de Cupidon - la critique du film". www.avoir-alire.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Nicky Larson – Le parfum de Cupidon". www.tout-mon-univers.com. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Nicky Larson et le parfum de Cupidon". www.unifrance.org. Archived from the original on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  4. ^ Match, Paris (8 June 2018). "Une première affiche pour le "Nicky Larson" de Philippe Lacheau". Paris Match. Archived from the original on 21 October 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Nicky Larson et le parfum de cupidon". Kinepolis. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  6. ^ a b c "Nicky Larson et le parfum de Cupidon". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  7. ^ MEUNIER, Emilie (30 October 2018). "Exclu. Philippe Lacheau (Nicky Larson) dévoile les raisons de la présence de Pamela Anderson dans le film (VIDEO)" (in French). Archived from the original on 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  8. ^ Match, Paris (13 May 2018). "Cannes 2018: 35 ans de partenariat avec Renault - Elodie Fontan et Philippe Lacheau: de Cannes à "Nicky Larson"". Paris Match. Archived from the original on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  9. ^ Arlin, Marc (15 January 2019). "Philippe Lacheau a pris 8 kilos de muscles : son impressionnant avant/après (PHOTO)". programme-tv.net. Archived from the original on 16 January 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  10. ^ Article on Allociné.fr Archived 2018-06-29 at the Wayback Machine: Nicky Larson: blow of club, Elodie Fontan will play Laura for Philippe Lacheau!
  11. ^ Leoni, Emilie (16 August 2018). "Nicky Larson : Philippe Lacheau dévoile la première photo de Mammouth, autre personnage iconique du dessin animé (PHOTO)". programme-tv.net. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  12. ^ "Paris Match article: Pamela Anderson sexy and glamorous on the Nicky Larson set". 29 August 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  13. ^ "Nicky Larson". www.allocine.fr. Archived from the original on 19 August 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  14. ^ AlloCine (29 October 2018). "Nicky Larson : le caméo de Dorothée, les clins-d'oeil, la bande-annonce... Toutes les infos du Comic-Con Paris 2018". AlloCiné. Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  15. ^ "「シティーハンター」フランス実写版が日本上陸!11月公開決定!". Cinema Today. 17 August 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  16. ^ "French Live-Action City Hunter Film Nicky Larson Opens at #3". Anime News Network. 2019-02-16. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  17. ^ "French Live-Action City Hunter Film Nicky Larson Sells 1 Million Tickets in 2 Weeks". Anime News Network. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  18. ^ "Nicky Larson et le parfum de Cupidon (2019) – France". JP's Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  19. ^ "Nicky Larson et le parfum de Cupidon". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  20. ^ Komatsu, Mikikazu (December 3, 2019). "Japan Box Office: French Live-Action City Hunter Film Debuts at #8 with Modest 48 Million Yen". Crunchyroll. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  21. ^ Pineda, Rafael Antonio (2019-12-16). "6th Yo-kai Watch Film Opens at #4, Lupin III CG Film at #5". Anime News Network. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  22. ^ "Nicky Larson et le parfum de Cupidon (2019) – Monde". JP's Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  23. ^ "Nicky Larson et le Parfum de Cupidon : critique qui ne craint personne". EcranLarge.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  24. ^ "Nicky Larson est-il le pire film du monde ?". GQ France. 4 February 2019. Archived from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
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