For the fifth consecutive week,  Thor: Love and Thunder leads the Italian Box Office. But this time the drop in overall revenues is of no small concern.

The month of August opened with a resounding -70% compared to the last weekend.  Between hot weather, summer vacations, and a lack of interesting new proposals, Italians are apparently forgetting movie theaters. In the last seven days, the total takings did not exceed 1.3 million euros and industry players are facing one of the worst Augusts ever, and the trend could get even worse. Only festivals keep the light on, when it comes to film and filmmaking, with more and more international guests taking part in successful events throughout the country, like the Magna Graecia Film Festival in Catanzaro, Calabria. 

Sitting on the top step of the podium is Thor: Love and Thunder, which grossed € 414,694 for a total close to €10 million (€ 9.89 million to be exact). And true, it’s been the most viewed movie in Italy, but compared to last week, it’s down 34 percent. Top Gun: Maverick sits in second place with a gross of €218,480 for a total of €11.85 million.

A great classic like Miyazaki’s Kurenai No Buta found its place at number 3,  grossing €149,000.

In fourth position is Baz Luhrmann‘s Elvis – €137.980, for a total of over €2.8 million .

Fifth is Jurassic World: Dominion with € 95,000 and € 7.8 million in total. Sixth is the horror film The Twin (€58,000) followed by another film of the same genre, the British Shark Bait with  € 50,000.

It is followed by Lightyear with a gross of € 46,000 and a total of over € 2.5 million. An animated film also sits in seventh place with Peter Goes to the Moon, which grosses of €24.000.

Last is X- A Sexy Horror Story, which grossed € 21,000 in the week. All expectations go towards the theatrical release of Minions: The Rise of Gru (Universal). Its success in the USA might bring a hoped-for change of pace at the Italian box office. 

Keeping the moviegoers’ passion alive are the festivals, which are able not only to host important international guests in Italy but also to enhance different territories. A fruitful week has just ended for the Magna Graecia Film Festival.  This year, the kermess directed by Gianvito Casadonte, overlooking the blue sea of Catanzaro Lido, Calabria saw the participation of several guests of honor including Richard Gere, John Landis, Jeremy Piven and Michael Radford.

“With the Covid we don’t know what will happen to cinema, certainly there will be a radical change,” said Gere. “But I think cinema will always find a home in festivals like these, that are interpenetrated in the communities where they are organized, they don’t have a commercial intent but they have this sense of community, participation of the people and the local government and industry. These festivals make it even sweeter to understand and enjoy what we have.”

John Landis agreed: “Festivals like these can keep alive the communal feeling of watching a movie together,” he said in Catanzaro Lido. “And movies should be watched together: you laugh more, you fear more, when you watch a movie together..  and they are not polluting!”