Italian and U.S.
film industry executives announced Saturday at the Venice Film Festival that this summer’s box office figures in Italy are up by 40% over the past two years as local distributors depart from past practice and release more movies between May and August.This year’s roughly 44% box office rise during that period to €138 million ($151 million) was prompted by the day-and-date summer release of a dozen Hollywood blockbusters, including “Toy Story 4” and “Spider-Man: Far From Home.”It comes after Italy suffered a long dearth of summer releases during the months when Italians traditionally hit the beach en masse.
The summer film drought caused a glut of product throughout the rest of the year and was considered a major impediment to the local market’s growth.Luigi Lonigro, who is head of Italy’s distributors, called the figures “very encouraging,” noting that they mark Italy’s best
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