12/10/2010

With €11m already grossed since its release on October 1 through Medusa, Benvenuti al Sud [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (“Welcome to the South”) by Luca Miniero has taken the top spot at the season’s box office (according to Cinetel data), surpassing Shrek Forever After and Toy Story 3.

The director was not expecting this kind of success for his remake of the French mega hit Welcome to the Sticks [+see also:
trailer
film profile], but word of mouth and precise comic timing have produced a miracle. So much so that yesterday Medusa announced they will make a sequel, entitled Benvenuti al Nord (“Welcome to the North”), with the same director and cast. The new script, by Miniero and Massimo Gaudioso, will once again play with prejudices and clichés.

"In Benvenuti al Sud I could have perhaps given greater depth to the characters, but the point was to never bore [audiences],” admits the 42-year-old director from Naples, whose background is in television commercials.

The film, which was part of the line-up of French sales company Pathé International at the Cannes Market, could soon break out beyond national borders.

(Translated from Italian)