'Porn in the Hood' does well at box office

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PARIS, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The French comedy "Porn in the Hood" has grossed $5.85 million since it was released, becoming the No. 1 French-language film in France, Variety said.

The film, directed by Franck Gastambide, focuses on three people who grew up together in a housing project outside of Paris as they embark on a mission to become porn stars, Variety reported.

Released July 11 by Gaumont Film Company, the film is the No. 1 French-language film in France, and is ranked fifth at the box office, behind "The Dark Knight Rises," "Ice Age: Continental Drift," "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax."

Francois Clerc, head of marketing at Gaumont, said "Hood" has beaten the studio's expectations.

"When we boarded 'Hood,' our goal was to sell 500,000 tickets total at the box office. We've already sold nearly 620,000 tickets in two weeks," Clerc says.

"Hood," which stars Gastambide, Medi Sadoun, Jib Pocthier and Ramzy Bedia, is based off a popular Web series, "Kaira Shopping," Clerc said, which added to its popularity at the box office.

"When you build a marketing campaign for a film based on a [well-known] Web series, you have a vast existing fan base, and that's a huge advantage compared with other projects," says Clerc, pointing to the film's 220,000 fans on Facebook and 6,000 Twitter followers.