Box Office

As stated last week, Italy's box office revenues, with the summer on its way, rely solely on blockbuster movies. A trend that has been confirmed with the highly-anticipated Top Gun: Maverick, which premiered on May 21 and 22 in The Space movie theaters.

While Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness went past the $800 million global benchmark, the good news for Hollywood was that Downtown Abbey: A New Era earned a solid $16 million and placed second. The weekend debut figures of Downtown Abbey 2, although not spectacular, were welcome signs that older moviegoers, especially women, are finally returning to the cineplexes.

It may have something to do with the all-of-a-sudden perfect summer weather in Europe: neither Germany nor Austria reported any big changes in their top ten last weekend. The only exception is a film that was released three weeks ago and managed to climb its way up to the last spot in Germany.

At the Cannes Film Festival going on now, the China Film Co-Production Corporation (CFCC) set up the China Film Pavilion at the Marché du Film and a China booth at the Palais des Festivals to establish “confidence in the development of the industry and restart international exchanges and cooperation in the field. ” There are no Chinese films being screened at the Festival aside from a handful of shorts.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stayed at number 1 at the box office in France. The story about a journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange directed by Sam Raimi and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, grossed $4,748,193 this week reaching a total of $17,634,123.

Before Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick lands and takes off with expected blockbuster figures, Doctor Strange and his cloak clobbered the box office competition, especially overseas. Benedict Cumberbatch’s snarky yet charismatic doctor-wizard worked his magic internationally, drawing $396.

Back in 1973 legendary Roman folk singer Gabriella Ferri gave life to one of Italy's summer anthems by definition. “Tutti ar mare, tutti ar mare, a mostra' le chiappe chiare”, she sang with her distinctive hoarse voice, inviting everyone to go to the beach, to show off their “pale buttocks”.

There was not much movement this week – just like in the US charts the top five spots held steady with no debut releases breaching the list. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stayed in the top spot for its second week with Fantastische Tierwesen 3: Dumbledores Geheimnisse (Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore) holding on to second and The Lost City – Das Geheimnis der Verlorenen Stadt placing third, followed by Downton Abbey 2.

In 2020, China passed the US to become the biggest box office territory in the world. In 2021, the China Film Administration put out a five-year plan to “adhere to the party’s total leadership over film work.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the new number 1 of France’s box office.  Doctor Strange goes on a journey into the unknown, with the help of mystical allies old and new, and traverses the mind-bending and dangerous realities of the multiverse to face a mysterious new adversary.