Another meager week for cinema in Italy has come to an end, with only two productions (the first two in the box office charts) exceeding 500 thousand euros. Nothing to be surprised about: the audience and the pandemic go hand in hand. But after a hard winter, marked by a strong recurrence of cases, which drove the public away from theatres, the first signs of recovery are now slowly appearing, hand in hand with a slight drop in Covid positive cases. And this gives hope for a spring marked by enthusiasm, also at the box office.

Change of guard at the top with La Fiera delle Illusioni – Nightmare Alley, which leaps to first place with a gross of € 635.000, for a total of € 691.000 since the day of its release in Italy (January 27). Not far behind stands last week’s number 1, the Canadian  production The Wolf and the Lion (€ 613 thousand last week and a total of € 1 million 231 thousand) followed by Spider-Man which drops to number 3 in the chart with a weekly gross of € 453 thousand, reaching over € 23 million 650 thousand in total since its release day (December 15).

The real revelation of the weekend just ended was Ennio. The docufilm by di Giuseppe Tornatore, which celebrates the life and legacy of the Italian composer Ennio Morricone who passed away on July 6, 2020. The film premiered only on Saturday and Sunday, attracted 46,787 people in the cinema (21,519 on Saturday and 25,268 on Sunday), grossing almost € 316.000. The Golden Globe-winning director pays tribute to his friend and collaborator Ennio Morricone, retracing the life and works of the legendary composer, from his debut with  Sergio Leone, to Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. Interviews with renowned directors and musicians accompany the recordings of some of the Maestro’s acclaimed world tours, clips from some iconic films scored by Morricone and exclusive footage of the scenes and places that defined his life. The rest of the ranking does not see great novelties: in fifth place, King Richard (€ 286,000 – total € 1,116,000), followed by Scream (€ 199,000, total € 903,000), the Italian production Me contro Te – Lost in Time (another € 188,000 which brings it to a total of € 3,139,000. The Matrix Resurrections, Belli Ciao and House of Gucci conclude the ranking.

Among the new films arriving on the domestic scene this week are Sempre più bello by Claudio Norza with Ludovica Francesconi and Giancarlo Commare. Produced by Eagle Pictures, the film is the third installment in the saga Sul più bello (2020), which recounts the life and adventures of Marta, a 19-year-old girl, orphaned and affected by a rare genetic disease, who, thanks to her self-irony and a close-knit group of friends, manages to find great love.  This week also sees the release of Let’s Kiss – Franco Grillini Storia di una rivoluzione gentile by Filippo Vendemmiati. The film focuses on the figure of Franco Grillini, a politician and activist from Bologna who has always been involved in the fight for the recognition of LGBT civil rights.