This list charts the most successful films at cinemas in Italy by box office sales, in euros and admissions. It also lists the most popular Italian productions in terms of admissions.
The following is a list of the highest-grossing films in Italy. The list is topped by James Cameron's Avatar (2009) which surpassed his Titanic (1997) to take the local record. The highest-grossing Italian film is Quo Vado? (2016) starring Checco Zalone and directed by Gennaro Nunziante. This surpassed their Sole a catinelle (2013) as the top Italian film as well as their What a Beautiful Day (2011), which held the record prior to that. All three are still among the top six. Zalone also directed and starred in Tolo Tolo (2020), currently in fifth place. Prior to these Italian films, the highest-grossing Italian film was Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful (1997). This remains the highest-grossing Italian film worldwide with a gross of over $230 million. [1] Of the current top 20, Titanic has the most admissions with 13.7 million, which ranks 12th all-time in Italy.
Rank | Genre | Title | Year | Gross (€) | Tickets sold |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Science fiction | Avatar | 2009 | 68,675,442 [2] [3] [4] | 7,919,514 [3] [5] |
![]() | 2 Comedy | Quo Vado? | 2016 | 65,341,588 [6] | 9,354,698 [6] |
![]() | 3 Comedy | Sole a catinelle | 2013 | 51,948,550 [2] [7] | 8,005,352 [7] |
4 | Romantic, Disaster | Titanic | 1998 | 50,217,865 [8] | 13,708,208 [9] |
![]() | 5 Comedy | Tolo Tolo | 2020 | 46,201,300 [10] | 6,674,622 [10] |
6 | Comedy drama | Inside Out 2 | 2024 | 43,872,313 [11] | 6,025,697 [11] |
7 | Science fiction | Avatar: The Way of Water | 2022 | 44,798,350 [12] | 5,058,147 [12] |
![]() | 8 Comedy | What a Beautiful Day | 2011 | 43,475,840 [2] | 6,831,460 [8] |
9 | Musical | The Lion King | 2019 | 37,514,061 [10] | 5,694,038 [10] |
10 ![]() | Comedy drama | C'è ancora domani | 2023 | 36,795,665 [13] | 5,441,291 [13] |
11 | Fantasy, Comedy | Barbie | 2023 | 32,122,053 [12] | 4,390,410 [12] |
12 ![]() | Comedy drama | Life Is Beautiful | 1997 | 31,231,984 [14] | 9,702,524 [15] |
13 | Fantasy | Alice in Wonderland | 2010 | 30,397,548 [2] [3] | 3,511,206 [3] |
14 | Superhero | Avengers: Endgame | 2019 | 30,282,559 [16] | 4,098,421 [16] |
15 ![]() | Comedy | Benvenuti al Sud | 2010 | 29,841,490 [3] | 4,903,480 [3] [17] |
16 | Comedy | Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs | 2009 | 29,705,584 [2] | 4,055,708 [18] |
17 | Psychological thriller | Joker | 2019 | 29,566,127 [10] | 4,228,544 [10] |
18 | Biographical musical | Bohemian Rhapsody | 2018 | 29,053,485 [19] | 4,154,275 [19] |
19 | Thriller | The Da Vinci Code | 2006 | 28,690,407 [3] | 4,656,409 |
20 ![]() | Comedy | Chiedimi se sono felice | 2000 | 28,458,894 [3] | 6,855,948 [9] |
Films marked as ![]() |
The following are the films with the most cinema admissions in Italy since 1945. Doctor Zhivago (1966) tops the list with 22.9 million admissions. War and Peace (1956), in fifth place with 15.7 million admissions, is the highest placed Italian production.
Rank | Title | Year | Tickets sold [9] | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Doctor Zhivago | 1966 | 22,900,000 | United Kingdom |
2 | The Godfather | 1972 | 21,810,000 | United States |
3 | The Ten Commandments | 1956 | 16,800,000 | United States |
4 | Goldfinger | 1964 | 15,800,000 | United Kingdom |
5 | War and Peace | 1956 | 15,707,723 | Italy United States |
6 | Last Tango in Paris | 1972 | 15,623,773 | Italy France |
7 | Ben-Hur | 1959 | 15,400,000 | United States |
8 | A Fistful of Dollars | 1964 | 14,797,275 | Italy Spain West Germany |
9 | Trinity Is Still My Name | 1971 | 14,554,172 | Italy |
10 | For a Few Dollars More | 1965 | 14,543,161 | Italy Spain West Germany |
11 | Thunderball | 1965 | 14,100,000 | United Kingdom |
12 | Titanic | 1998 | 13,708,208 | United States |
13 | La Dolce Vita | 1960 | 13,617,148 | Italy France |
14 | Little World of Don Camillo | 1952 | 13,215,653 | Italy France |
15 | Ulysses | 1954 | 13,170,322 | Italy |
16 | The Leopard | 1963 | 12,850,375 | Italy France |
17 | Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing | 1955 | 12,600,000 | United States |
18 | Beautiful but Dangerous | 1955 | 12,592,231 | Italy France |
19 | Malicious | 1973 | 11,756,327 | Italy |
20 | Miracle of Marcelino | 1955 | 11,559,217 | Spain Italy |
21 | The Good, the Bad and the Ugly | 1966 | 11,364,221 | Italy |
22 | The Longest Day | 1962 | 11,300,000 | United States |
23 | Watch Out, We're Mad! | 1974 | 11,246,906 | Italy Spain |
24 | The Bible: In the Beginning... | 1966 | 11,245,980 | United States Italy |
25 | Il Decameron | 1971 | 11,167,557 | Italy |
The following are the Italian films (including co-productions) with the most cinema admissions in Italy since 1950. The leader, War and Peace (1956), is ranked fifth when considering productions from other countries (see above table). Of films listed in the highest-grossing list above, Life Is Beautiful, with 9.7 million admissions, ranks 31st and Quo Vado?, with 9.4 million admissions, 34th. [15]
Rank | Title | Year | Tickets sold [15] | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | War and Peace | 1956 | 15,707,723 | Italy United States |
2 | Last Tango in Paris | 1972 | 15,623,773 | Italy France |
3 | A Fistful of Dollars | 1964 | 14,797,275 | Italy Spain West Germany |
4 | Trinity Is Still My Name | 1971 | 14,554,172 | Italy |
5 | For a Few Dollars More | 1965 | 14,543,161 | Italy Spain West Germany |
6 | La Dolce Vita | 1960 | 13,617,148 | Italy France |
7 | Little World of Don Camillo | 1952 | 13,215,653 | Italy France |
8 | Ulysses | 1954 | 13,170,322 | Italy |
9 | The Leopard | 1963 | 12,850,375 | Italy France |
10 | Beautiful but Dangerous | 1955 | 12,592,231 | Italy France |
11 | Malicious | 1973 | 11,756,327 | Italy |
12 | Miracle of Marcelino | 1955 | 11,559,217 | Spain Italy |
13 | The Good, the Bad and the Ugly | 1966 | 11,364,221 | Italy |
14 | Watch Out, We're Mad! | 1974 | 11,246,906 | Italy Spain |
15 | The Bible: In the Beginning... | 1966 | 11,245,980 | United States Italy |
Life Is Beautiful is a 1997 Italian comedy-drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni, who co-wrote the film with Vincenzo Cerami. Benigni plays Guido Orefice, a Jewish Italian bookshop owner, who employs his imagination to shield his son from the horrors of internment in a Nazi concentration camp. The film was partially inspired by the book In the End, I Beat Hitler by Rubino Romeo Salmonì and by Benigni's father, who spent two years in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp during World War II.
Trinity Is Still My Name is a 1971 Italian Spaghetti Western comedy film directed by Enzo Barboni. Starring the film duo of Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, it is a direct sequel to They Call Me Trinity (1970). It was shot extensively in Campo Imperatore, Abruzzo. It was the highest-grossing Italian film to that point in time. In 1995, a sequel was made, Sons of Trinity, as a continuation of the Trinity series.
What a Beautiful Day is a 2011 Italian film directed by Gennaro Nunziante starring Checco Zalone, Luigi Luciano and Rocco Papaleo. The film is currently the sixth highest-grossing Italian film in Italy.
Paola Cortellesi is an Italian actress, film director, screenwriter and producer. She has starred in about 20 movies as well as a number of theatrical, television and radio shows. In 2023, she made her directorial debut with the black-and-white feminist comedy-drama There's Still Tomorrow, which received critical acclaim and became one of the highest-grossing films of all time in Italy.
Gladiators of Rome is a 2012 Italian computer-animated comedy film produced by Rainbow, a studio co-owned by Iginio Straffi and Viacom at the time. Viacom's Paramount Pictures released the film in North America while Medusa Film handled distribution in Italy. The film was directed by Straffi, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Michael J. Wilson. Gladiators of Rome had its world premiere in Italy on 18 October 2012.
Quo vado? is a 2016 Italian comedy film directed by Gennaro Nunziante. It was released on 1 January 2016. The film is the highest-grossing Italian film in Italy.
Sole a catinelle is a 2013 Italian comedy film directed by Gennaro Nunziante. The film is the second highest-grossing Italian film in Italy.
Gennaro Nunziante is an Italian film director. He directed the three highest-grossing Italian films in Italy headed by Quo Vado?.
Luca Pasquale Medici, known as Checco Zalone (Italian pronunciation:[ˈkekkoddzaˈloːne], modeled on the Italianized Barese insult "che cozzalone!",, is an Italian comedian, actor, screenwriter, director and film producer. He co-wrote and starred in the five highest-grossing Italian films in Italy headed by Quo Vado?.
Taodue is an Italian film and television production company in MFE - MediaForEurope. It was founded by Pietro Valsecchi and Camilla Nesbitt in 1991.
Perfect Strangers is a 2017 Spanish comedy thriller film directed by Álex de la Iglesia remaking the 2016 Italian film of the same name. It stars Belén Rueda, Eduard Fernández, Ernesto Alterio, Juana Acosta, Eduardo Noriega, Dafne Fernández and Pepón Nieto.The film grossed €18.9 million at the box office by February 2018.
Tolo Tolo is a 2020 Italian comedy film directed by and starring Checco Zalone, in his directorial debut.
Miriam Dalmazio is an Italian actress.
The Best Summer of My Life is a 2018 Spanish comedy film directed by Dani de la Orden starring Leo Harlem, Toni Acosta, Maggie Civantos and Jordi Sánchez together with Alejandro Serrano and Stephanie Gil. It is a remake of the 2013 Italian film Sole a catinelle.
There's Still Tomorrow is a 2023 Italian black-and-white comedy drama film in neorealist style, directed by Paola Cortellesi in her directorial debut. Set in postwar 1940s Italy, it follows Delia breaking traditional family patterns and aspiring to a different future, after receiving a mysterious letter. It stars Paola Cortellesi, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Emanuela Fanelli, Valerio Mastandrea, Francesco Centorame, Vinicio Marchioni and Giorgio Colangeli.
Emanuela Fanelli is an Italian actress and comedian. She received two consecutive David di Donatello awards for Best Supporting Actress.