It is a great pleasure to celebrate an Italian weekend box office debut at the top for Coyote vs. Acme by Dave Green: as you may know, the smart live-action/animation hybrid satirical comedy, devoted to the world of Looney Tunes, had been shelved for three years in Warner Bros.’ archives, canceled for tax reasons, and, fortunately for us, acquired by Ketchup Entertainment, which with international partners (including our own Lucky Red) brought it to theaters. The opening here stands at 1,490,300 euros in five days (source Cinetel), while worldwide the film is currently at 44,274,000 dollars (source Box Office Mojo). Even though the budget hovered around 70 million according to Deadline and Hollywood Reporter, in this peculiar case what counts are the 50 million spent by Ketchup to acquire it: we are still unfortunately far from breaking even. But it was already a matter of principle, which we vigorously support.
Holding steady in second place, as enduring as the material it’s based on, is Odyssey by Christopher Nolan: the Odysseus of Matt Damon has drawn in audiences for another 940,000 euros, bringing the Italian total to 55,941,000, the best of the calendar year (difficult to beat in a year with no Zalone). The global tally now stands at 1,631,537,000, a figure perhaps even Universal Pictures didn’t imagine they’d achieve when they agreed to give Nolan the highest budget of his career (250 million according to Hollywood Reporter).
Dropping from first to third place is the live-action remake of Oceania, with Dwayne Johnson as Maui and Catherine Laga’aia as Vaiana: it has collected another 851,800 euros, bringing our total to 10,154,900. A respectable result, which, while not matching the boom of the Lilo & Stitch remake last year, places Italy among the countries that welcomed the operation most warmly, even though it was received more lukewarmly worldwide, with 315,500,000 dollars. The 250 million investment cited by Variety has not paid off for Disney.
From third to fourth place slides Spider-Man: Brand New Day featuring Tom Holland, but this is hardly a concern for anyone: at the moment in Italy it has grossed 37,661,200 euros (509,200 over the weekend), yet the worldwide figure is what leaves people astonished, with a staggering 2,408,062,500 dollars. At this point, speculating about a rumored budget of 225 million (according to Deadline) becomes a joke: never were funds better spent by a major studio, indeed two: Sony at 75% and Marvel Studios / Disney at 25%, with revenues seemingly split in the same way.
Holding steady in fifth place is the dystopian The Dog Stars – Stars After the End by Ridley Scott, with Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Guy Pearce, and Margaret Qualley: the post-apocalyptic wandering of its protagonists has so far totaled in Italy 1,134,300 euros (262,800 this weekend). Worldwide, it has been met coolly with 33,037,035 dollars.
The weekend’s full box office
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