19/11/2013 - Sole a catinelle follows Avatar with demand abroad. SIAE figures show an increase in tickets sold in the first semester

After reaching a new record two years ago with Che bella giornata [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (€43.47 million), actor Checco Zalone has beaten himself with a total of €44.16 million made with Sole a catinelle [+see also:
trailer
film profile], directed by Gennaro Nunziante.

Released on October 31, Sole a catinelle, is the third most succesful film in Italy after James Cameron’s two films Avatar (€65.67 million) and Titanic (€50.22 million). “We believe that the €55 million ceiling is attainable for this film and that this week has reignited the public’s attention and interest towards cinema,” the producer of the film, Pietro Valsecchi from TaoDue, said.

According to Valsecchi, "bearing witness to the exceptionality of the Zalone phenomenon is the interest we have received from many international entities for whom we are preparing a number of subtitled copies. This is another element that makes us proud and shows how the best road to being global is to be strongly rooted in the local.”  

Yesterday, data from the entertainment observatory (in Italian: Osservatorio dello Spettacolo, or SIAE) were released for the first part of 2013.

In the first half of 2013, cinema theatres were found to be on the path to recovery, with an increase in tickets sold (+3.95%) and a fall in average prices (-4.63%) due to the fall in 3D films and sets of promotions tied to specific days of the week.

The reduction in price made box office revenue fall by 0,86%, while the increase in tickets sold contributed to a rise in audience spending (including movie theatre food and beverage) of +5.01%.

The concentration of revenue is around just a few films however, especially when it comes to Italian films (an example of which is the Zalone phenomenon) and the situation is made worse by the fact that 60% of cinemas have yet to be digitalised.

(Translated from Italian)