Propelled by three Hollywood juggernauts, the new live adaptation of The Little Mermaid, Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse and Fast X, which dominated in theaters last weekend, the month of May closed with very good results for the Italian box-office. Over €40 million in grosses overall, about €15 million more than the same month in 2022, still less than the three years period before the pandemic, but nevertheless rising in a steady trajectory. A good breath of oxygen for Italian distributors and exhibitors, who are seeing the plus or minus 3,700 film venues existing on the Italian peninsula filling with moviegoers once again.

Buoyed by the June 2 holiday long weekend (Festa della Repubblica, celebrating the date in 1946 when in a national referendum the Italians chose the republican constitutional system over the monarchy), The Little Mermaid [or La sirenetta, its Italian title] grossed €788,00 over the weekend, €2.9 million for the week and has reached a total of €9 million since its debut two and a half weeks ago. Second spot at the box-office went to the animated Spider-man: Across the Spider-Verse, with €2.4 million earned during the four-day weekend; in third position is Fast X, with €900,000 grosses for the four-day holiday weekend and a total of almost €11 million, a very good showing for the Vin Diesel-led action film.

Italian Marco Bellocchio’s Rapito [Kidnapped], about the tragic and forgotten story of the kidnapping of a Jewish boy by the Vatican in 1858, is the first non-American production at the box-office, topping fourth position with €450,000 and a total of over €1 million – one of the best averages per venue.

A good showing for the horror The Boogeyman, based on a Stephen King story, directed by horror specialist Rob Savage on a very small budget, grossing €388,000. After Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 (€243,000) in sixth, it’s worth noting the surprising performance of the concert movie Suga – Agust D Tour D-Day, about one of the members of the famous K-pop band BTS, filmed in concert in Japan: the film grossed over €100,000 in just a handful of venues.

Rounding out the Italian Top 10 are the long-lasting Super Mario Bros (which has surpassed €20 million total), Nanni Moretti’s Il Sol dell’Avvenire and Robert Connolly’s environmentally focused Blueback, with Eric Bana and Mia Wasikowska, a tale about the friendship between a girl and a big blue fish.

Following is the complete Top 10 at the Italian box-office for the week ending June 4, 2023, according to Cinetel (weekend and total grosses):

1. THE LITTLE MERMAID:  €2,896,898 – Total: €8,495,436

2. SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDERVERSE: €525, 378 – Total €2,420,814

3 FAST X: €947.841€ – Total €10,936,563

4 RAPITO: €454,469 – Total €1,065,451

5 THE BOOGEYMAN:  €87,000 – Total €388.147

6 GUARDIANI DELLA GALASSIA VOL.3: €243.833 – Total: 10.705.622€

7 SUGA – AGUST D TOUR D-DAY:  €102,001

8 SUPER MARIO BROS – IL FILM: €57,420 – Total €20,318,745

9 IL SOL DELL’ AVVENIRE: €50.913 – Total €3,858,082

10 BLUEBACK: € 46.063