02/04/2007

Italian cinema is sailing at full speed. According to Cinetel data, last month domestic films reached a 46.81% share of the entire national market and 40% during the January-March trimester.

The list of the most-seen films of the first trimester of 2007 proves that audiences once again love “Made in Italy” films: there were four local titles among the top ten.

In at number one was Manual of Love 2 (The Following Chapters) [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Giovanni Veronesi, which grossed €19m from January 19-March 31. The number three spot, after The Pursuit of Happyness (a US production directed by Gabriele Muccino), went to Ho voglia di te [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Luis Prieto, based on Federico Moccia’s best-seller, which pulled in €13.2m from March 9-31.

Fausto Brizzi’s Night Before Exams [+see also:
trailer
film profile] was fourth with €12.1m garnered from February 14-March 31 and, last but certainly not least, Saturno Contro by Ferzan Ozpetek was number seven with €7.4m grossed from Feburary 23.

Beyond the Top 10, local comedians Ficarra and Picone fared well at number 13 with Il 7 e l'8 [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (€4.7m) and Pupi Avati came in at 21 with La cena per farli conoscere (over €3m).

Among co-productions, the most noteworthy was Hannibal Rising [+see also:
trailer
film profile], produced by Dino De Laurentiis and distributed by Aurelio De Laurentiis, which earned almost €6m.

The Italian market has not performed this well since the late 1970s but “this success is not surprising,” says Cattleya producer Riccardo Tozzi, president of the film producers association UNPF, "because for the last four or five years, Italian films have been expanding their market share with a certain consistency. This is not a sudden explosion, but a trend. Italian films, and I’m not talking about teen films, are being enjoyed by wide audiences. Besides those from the aforementioned list, I would add other significant examples: Centochiodi [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (One Hundred Nails) by Ermanno Olmi, which despite having been released without a large advertising campaign, grossed €400,000 in its opening weekend and had the highest per-screen average. Without going too far back into the past, I would like to remind you of the success achieved by Don’t Tell [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Cristina Comencini and Nanni Moretti’s The Caiman [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jean Labadie
interview: Nanni Moretti
film profile]. And I’m certain that Daniele Luchetti’s new film, Mio fratello è figlio unico [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Daniele Luchetti
interview: Riccardo Tozzi
film profile], which will come out on April 20, will also be successful. Everyone keeps talking about a crisis yet Italian cinema is more alive than ever because it succeeds in producing superb auteur films”.

(Translated from Italian)