Disney Dominated Italy’s Box Office in 2024, but Local Hits Like ‘Boy With Pink Pants’ Kept Market Buoyant

variety.com:

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s box office revenues remained stable in 2024, totalling roughly €494 million ($513 million) in grosses and 70 million admissions – which is just slightly below the country’s $514 million 2023 intake.

Disney landed the year’s top 3 titles with “Inside Out 2,” which grossed $48.3 million locally; “Moana 2,” which pulled $20 million; and “Deadpool & Wolverine” which clocked in at $18.7 in the Italian theatrical market, according to figures released by national box office compiler Cinetel.

But amid a dearth of Hollywood blockbusters, due to the impact of last year’s Hollywood strikes, it was local movies, such as Italy’s sleeper hit “The Boy With Pink Pants,” that proved crucial to keeping the market buoyant. “The Boy With Pink Pants,” a teen drama by relatively unknown director Margherita Ferri about the harrowing true tale of a 15-year-old boy who took his own life after enduring bullying at school and online, became the year’s surprise big winner grossing more than $9 million following its Nov.

7 release, beating high-profile Hollywood titles such as “Wicked” and “Venom 3.” A similar phenomenon happened in France, where 2024’s top two movies were French movies, “A Little Something Extra” and “The Count of Monte Cristo,” which beat Hollywood blockbusters. “Pink Pants,” which is produced and distributed by Tarak Ben Ammar‘s Rome-based Eagle Pictures, launched from the Rome Film Festival in October and, driven by a strong social media campaign, became a cultural phenomenon dethroning Paolo Sorrentino’s lavish love letter to Naples “Parthenope” – which pulled roughly $8 million in Italy – from the year’s numero uno position among local titles.