Nanni Moretti’s ‘A Brighter Tomorrow’ Opens Strong in Italy Ahead of Cannes, as Director Takes Shot at Netflix
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian director Nanni Moretti’s new film “Il sol dell’avvenire” (“A Brighter Tomorrow”), a multi-layered love letter to filmmaking in the age of streaming giants, is doing brisk biz at the home box office ahead of its Cannes Film Festival international premiere.
The latest by Moretti — who customarily gets special permission from Cannes to release his works locally before launching them from the Croisette — has already scored close to €3 million ($3.3 million) from 500 screens in Italy via 01 Distribution since its April 20 release. “Brighter Tomorrow” came in second only to “The Super Mario Bros.
Movie” last weekend, which was a long frame due to the International Workers’ Day holiday on May 1. Moretti’s box office result with “Brighter Tomorrow” is being hailed as a major success at a time when Italy lags behind much of Europe in terms of post-pandemic box office recovery.
In 2022, the country tallied a measly 44.5 million admissions, a 48% drop compared with its average pre-pandemic level and a theatrical moviegoing recovery rate below that of France, Germany, Spain and the U.K. “To earn almost three million Euros from roughly 500 screens with an auteur film is no small feat these days,” commented exhibitor Domenico Di Noia, who heads the country’s association of arthouse cinemas, called FICE. “For arthouse cinemas, it’s a breath of fresh air.” In “Brighter Tomorrow,” Moretti, who often acts in his movies, stars as a Roman director who is shooting a period piece set in Rome in 1956, the year of the Hungarian Revolution when millions of citizens rebelled against Soviet domination.
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