Have you ever watched the same movie at the cinema more than once? More than twice?
When he heard Kaamelott: First Instalment/Premier Volet was opening at his local cinema, over ten years after the TV series ended, Arnaud Klein (France) decided to spend his whole summer watching it.
After a total of 204 viewings – four per day between 20 July and 20 September - he has achieved the record for most cinema productions attended of the same film.
The record was previously held by Ramiro Alanis (USA) who watched Avengers: Endgame 191 times in 2019.
Kaamelott, the TV series, is an offbeat account of the legend of the Knights of the Round Table that ran for six seasons from 2005-2009.
Kaamelott: First Instalment picks up where the series left off, with Arthur having fallen into crippling depression after vacating the throne of Camelot and returning Excalibur to the stone whence it came. Meanwhile, the Kingdom of Logres awaits his return as they resist the corrupted Sir Lancelot.
Arnaud didn’t know how long the film would continue being screened in cinemas, so he had to watch as much as possible asap. Fortunately, his cinema L’Opéraims in Reims, France agreed to continue showing the film until Arnaud broke the record.
But why watch it 204 times if the previous record was ‘only’ 191?
Well, former record holder Ramiro Alanis's unofficial total was actually 202, but 11 of those viewings didn't count because he took bathroom breaks during them. That may seem harsh, but bladder control is an important skill to have when attempting records.
“I didn't want to steal the record from him; I wanted to beat him, whoever he was. So I went up to 204 sessions.” - Arnaud
Over the course of his record attempt, Arnaud received tremendous support from Kaamelott fans.
“The more I went, the more the community grew around me, so people came from abroad to see the film with me. Switzerland, Belgium and even distant regions like Corsica or the city of Cahors. I was very moved to see that my project brought together so many people.”
Even though Arnaud is a huge Kaamelott fan, watching the same film over 200 times inevitably got boring. Arnaud’s wife played an important part in keeping him sane during those two months.
“Every night she would talk to me about everything except the record. She took care of my life outside of the record and without it I wouldn't have made it either.”
It remains to be seen whether Arnaud will attempt to break his own record upon the release of Kaamelott: Second Instalment.
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