The Flash got a good start at the Italian box-office, though not lightning fast as had been expected, debuting with €1.9 million in its first weekend of release, topping the chart ahead of other Hollywood action offerings: Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the live action adaptation of The Little Mermaid and Fast X. A virtually all-American week at the total of about 3,700 theaters across the country, marking a -2.3% in overall grosses compared to last weekend, but a +50% compared to the same week in 2020, and +18.1% compared to the three years before Covid.

Coming behind the Hollywood blockbusters is Marco Bellocchio’s Rapito (Kidnapped), the forgotten story of the kidnapping of a Jewish boy by the Vatican in 1858: the film reached €1.5 million at the box-office with a very good average per venue. In seventh place is the French comedy Due matrimoni alla volta by Philippe Lacheau, followed by the K-Pop concert movie Suga- Road to Day-D, and the family friendly animation Blue e Flippy – Amici per le pinne  (Dolphin Boy), a Russian/Turkish/Iranian co-production about the friendship between a boy and a dolphin and their adventures under the sea.

Good results for the British biopic Emily, about the early years of novelist and poet Emily Brontë (played by Emma Mackey), which attracted a substantial number of young Italian moviegoers in the 28 venues where the film was screened. Directed by Frances O’Connor, Emily received four nominations at the British Independent Awards.

Debuting this coming week in Italy are Pixar’s new animated movie Elemental by Peter Sohn, the comedy Fidanzata in affitto (No Hard Feelings) by Gene Stupnitsky with Jennifer Lawrence, the drama  L’uomo senza colpa by Ivan Gergolet,  Houria – La Voce della libertà by the Algerian directoa Mounia Meddour, the Italian comedy Un matrimonio mostruoso by Volfango de Biasi and the documentary about trash recycling Materia Fuori Posto by Austrian director Nikolaus Jey Rhalter – a markedly European line-up, which is welcome news. The larger Italian theaters chains, such as UCI Cinemas, The Space Cinema, and Warner Village, have multiple locations across the country and offer a range of amenities, including IMAX screens and luxury seating options. But foreign productions, especially those from Hollywood, have somewhat overshadowed Italian films at the multiplex.  In the last 30 years the Italian box-office has in fact been dominated by Hollywood blockbusters, making it difficult for all Italian filmmakers, not just makers of art house and smaller films, to find a place in the mass market.

Following is the complete Top 10 at the Italian box-office for the week ending June 18, 2023, according to data provided by Cinetel.it (weekend and total):

1.THE FLASH: € 290,037, tot. € 1,227,188

2.SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE: € 181,686, tot. € 5,232,622

3.TRANSFORMERS – IL RISVEGLIO (TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS): € 150,375, tot. € 2,115,594

4.LA SIRENETTA (THE LITTLE MERMAID): € 141,536, tot. € 11,238,524

5.FAST X: € 35,202, tot. € 11,672,192

6.RAPITO: € 29,295, tot. € 1,486,158

7.DUE MATRIMONI ALLA VOLTA: € 17,906, tot. € 71,632

8.SUGA: ROAD TO D-DAY: € 17,101, tot. € 39,075

9.BLU E FLIPPY – AMICI PER LE PINNE: € 13,537, tot. € 161,349

10.EMILY: € 13,040, tot. € 37,932