New distribs challenge Italo market leaders
Year offers poor B.O., domestic perfs
Medusa, Silvio Berlusconi's production and distrib company, became the major distributor last year and will remain a top player thanks to aggressive acquisition moves (it just bought Woody Allen's three new comedies). According to analysts, it has replaced the once-powerful Vittorio Cecchi Gori Group, which continues to experience difficulties.
Medusa's film "Chiedimi se sono felice" (Ask Me If I Am Happy) dominated the box office for the year and during the Christmas season. (Italian pics did much better over the holidays than during the year, as local pics took in only 15% of 2000 revenues.)
The movie stars Aldo, Giovanni and Giacomo, a comic trio famous for its Mediaset TV performances. It grossed $16 million in 2000 and nearly doubled that figure with the inclusion of B.O. for the first weeks of this year, beating all records for Christmas and 20-day runs in Italian theaters, beating out even "Titanic" and "Life Is Beautiful."
The year also brought the launch of independent distributors like Nexo, from former exhibitor Ernesto Di Sarro. The company handled New Line's "The Cell" and "Final Destination," both with good box office revenues.
Nexo's planned acquisition of New Line's "The Lord of the Rings" would have elevated the new distributor to the top level, but the deal was scrapped.
Pubcaster RAI and France's StudioCanal also launched a distribution company at the end of 2000. The venture is expected to become a major player and challenge Medusa's leadership. The company, which still awaits a moniker, is led by Filippo Roviglioni (formerly of Cecchi Gori, Polygram, Universal). It will officially start operations in spring but has already acquired some interesting movies, including Kathryn Bigelow's "K-19," John Woo's "Windtalkers" and Roman Polanski's "The Pianist."
Finally, Eagle Pictures, confirming a renewed, more aggressive strategy at home and in the U.S., picked up "Roller Ball" from MGM and "Tomb Raider" from Paramount.
The vitality of Italo indies made the majors take a low profile in Italy, where they chose to sell some of their best pics to local distribs rather than doing the job themselves. Such was the case for "Hannibal," which Universal sold to Filmauro.
But the majors continued to dominate the market, mainly because they control most of Italy's 1,200 screens. Several venueslaunched during 2000, and the hardtopping continues, especially near big cities. The screen increase limited the distribution of national and international independent releases. Most of these multiscreen theaters release only the hits produced by the majors.
