The most straightforward answer likely lies in the fact that Phantom-helmer and Star Wars emperor George Lucas is rumoured to have hand-picked the release dates of his film in every country. Why, though, would he leave France to last? Steve Rubin, topper at UFD, Fox's distributor in France, had no comment when the question was posed.

Olivier Snanoudj, deputy director of the Federation Nationale des Cinemas Francais (FNCF), France's exhibition watchdog, says of the October start for Phantom: "We consider that it's not a good release date. It's too big a movie, and the surprise factor will have been lost. If it opened in the summer it would be a smash, but the film now won't see its maximum potential."

Still, when asked why he thinks Lucas and Fox picked such a late release, Snanoudj wouldn't venture a guess. Presumably, however, it's based on the tenet that the traditionally lazy Gallic summer is considered unripe for selling movie tickets. The argument is one that has been raging in the French industry over the past few years. Indeed, Snanoudj and the FNCF have been trying valiantly to promote summer movie-going, but the task they face has made them look like Sisyphus pushing his boulder up a hill only to have it roll back as it nears the top. French distributors are reluctant to release films in the summer based on several criteria. Despite the multiplex boom, cinemas are not strategically located near beaches and vacation spots since they couldn't bear out the dearth of ticket-buyers in the winter months.

If they built it, would the public come? Probably, but no one's yet figured out a way to compensate for the winter doldrums.

Promoting films is also handicapped during the summer since most French actors tend to go away on vacation themselves, and because the talk-shows on which they'd make their normal rounds are on hiatus, leaving no outlets for plugging.

The most oft-cited reason, however, is that there are no French films that have proven themselves capable of drawing audiences during the dog days. Apart from the phenomenal success of The Fifth Element, which bowed at Cannes in May 1997, no French summer pics have packed houses for years. And, most industryites would tell you that The Fifth Element doesn't count anyway since it was an event film - and in English.

An exec at UGC, one of France's three main cinema circuits, believes strongly that in order to get things going, "there needs to be a French film that does well in summer before distributors will start releasing their movies during June, July and August."

A new method for combating the problem has been to give French distributors and producers incentives if they release their films between June 15 and August 15. The FNCF also does its bit by running the Fete du Cinema, a three-day promotion during which ticket prices are reduced to almost nothing. Attendance for the June special has been increasing every year, but there are generally some big American pics in the line-up.

Oddly, given Lucas' decision to put Phantom - the archetypal summer film - under October's distant moon, American films over the past two years have proven that if there's product out there in summer, tickets sell.

In August of 1997, Men In Black broke a 12-year-old record for the biggest opening day tally ever in Gaul and went on to be one of that year's highest-grossing films. In 1998, Armageddon and Lethal Weapon 4 did exceptional summer business and also rode the wave to land at numbers five and six respectively for the year.

And, indeed, had Phantom opened this summer there's little doubt it would have surpassed all the films that have gone before. Now, with the addition of DVD and the Internet to the mix, the FNCF's Snanoudj fears there will be a "loss of interest" by the time October rolls around. It bears mentioning as well that while October is traditionally one of France's two most heavily trafficked months for movie-going, there is a growing congestion of films released in autumn.

Will Phantom get carbonized by the competition - which includes Stanley Kubrick's swansong Eyes Wide Shut - or suffer from its third-act appearance? Although the entire French industry and a good portion of the public are scratching their heads in bewilderment, it's probably unwise to second guess George Lucas. If you sat in a darkened movie theatre during the summer of 1975, you know that this man is capable of the ultimate surprise. And, after all, he did invent the Force.

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