“Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom”: by Toutatis! The crazy numbers of the Asterix empire

6000 copies

“The character was invented in two hours by Uderzo and me, in a burst of laughter!”, confided René Goscinny in the pages of the Sunday newspaper. Published in the magazine Pilote, the adventures of the Gauls were the subject of a first album, published in 6000 copies in 1961. Four years later, Asterix among the Bretonswill be published in 400,000 copies. 

Ninth plate

It is only in the 9th plate of Le tour de Gaule d 'Asterix, published in 1965, the little dog Dogmatix appears for the first time. His name was chosen, by competition, by the readers of the newspaper Pilote, who had the choice between Idéfix, Trépetix, Paindépix and Patracourcix. 

42, 6kg

The “village of madmen” is so prominent in French culture that the very first French satellite, weighing 42.6 kg and launched on November 26, 1965, is called… Asterix! < /p>

2.41 million admissions

The very first animated film, Asterix the Gaul hits theaters in France on December 20, 1967 and four days later in Quebec. It is Roger Carel who doubles the voice of Asterix while Jacques Morel does that of Obélix. The 68-minute film made 2.41 million admissions. 

275 million francs

In 1999, Christian Clavier and Gérard Depardieu became the faces of the famous duo in Asterix and Obelix against Caesar, the very first live-action feature film. The film, directed by Claude Zidi, had a production budget of 275 million francs (about 41.9 million euros), making it, at the time, the most expensive film in the world. history of French cinema. 

87 years old

The dubber of the nasty little Gaul, Roger Carel, aged 87 at the time, announces that the film Asterix: The Domain of the Gods (2014) will be his last. The animated feature is the first to be developed in 3D and is co-directed by none other than Alexandre Astier – the creator of Kaamelott – who will repeat in 2018 with Astérix: Le Secret magic potion. 

117 languages ​​

In 2011, Albert Uderzo celebrated 350 million Asterix albums sold, i.e. “stacked, 766 times the height of the Eiffel Tower and twice the circumference of the Earth if they are placed next to each other”. The Adventures of Asterix have been translated into 117 languages, making it the most translated comic book in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records. The 40th album, whose title is not yet known, will be released on October 26, 2023 and is drawn by Didier Conrad and written by Fabrice Caro. 

• Asterix and Obelix : The Middle Kingdom hits theaters on February 1.