Monica Bellucci plays Cleopatra

The film has been buoyed by some good early reviews and a major marketing blitz - which includes French outlets of McDonald's.

The launch also takes place at a time of some optimism that France's cinema industry is starting to beat off Hollywood.

Two recent French films, Amelie and The Brotherhood Of The Wolves, have been major overseas successes - even in the US, normally resistant to foreign-language movies.

And the movie's predecessor, Asterix And Obelix Versus Caesar, made 117m euros (�71m), without even being seen in the US.

Last year Miramax bought the US distribution rights for the film - and for the new Asterix vehicle, then in production.

Debate

Besides Depardieu, Asterix: Mission Cleopatra stars Christian Clavier as Asterix and Monica Bellucci as a ravishing Cleopatra.

The success of homegrown big-budget films has sparked debate in France.

Farmer Bov� has led protest against McDonald's

While many cheer an industry seen to be beating Hollywood at its own game, some intellectuals fear that the country's own style of thoughtful film-making may be lost.

The political significance of Asterix's success is not lost in France, where the question of l'exception Fran�aise - the country's supposed cultural uniqueness - has been hotly-debated in recent times.

It may not be coincidence that Christian Clavier's Asterix bears an uncanny resemblance to the real-life French anti-globalisation campaigner, Jos� Bov�.