List of highest-grossing films in Italy

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.

Highest-grossing films by box office revenue

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.

Background colour   indicates films currently in cinemas as of 31 July 2024

Rank	Genre	Title	Year	Gross (€)	Tickets sold
01	Science fiction	Avatar	2009	68,675,442[2][3][4]	7,919,514[3][5]
02 *	Comedy	Quo Vado?	2016	65,341,588[6]	9,354,698[6]
03 *	Comedy	Sole a catinelle	2013	51,948,550[2][7]	8,005,352[7]
04	Romantic, Disaster	Titanic	1998	50,217,865[8]	13,708,208[9]
05	Comedy drama	Inside Out 2	2024	46,228,784[10]	6,358,592[10]
06 *	Comedy	Tolo Tolo	2020	46,201,300[11]	6,674,622[11]
07	Science fiction	Avatar: The Way of Water	2022	44,798,350[12]	5,058,147[12]
08 *	Comedy	What a Beautiful Day	2011	43,475,840[2]	6,831,460[8]
09	Musical	The Lion King	2019	37,514,061[11]	5,694,038[11]
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[11]	4,228,544[11]
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 * are Italian productions

Most admissions

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.

Background colour   indicates films currently in cinemas

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

Most admissions for Italian productions

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]

Background colour   indicates films currently in cinemas

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

See also

• Film portal

• Lists of highest-grossing films

References

1. John, Adriana (21 September 2016). "Top 10 Highest Grossing Non-English Movies of All Time". Wonderslist. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
2. "Annuario Cinetel 2014" (PDF). Cinetel. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
3. "Annuario Cinetel 2010". Cinetel. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
4. Original Box Office run (65.675.547) + 2022 rerelease (2.999.895)
5. Original Box Office run (7.493.785) + 2022 rerelease (425.729)
6. "Box Office - Dal: 01/08/2015 Al: 29/05/2016". Cinetel. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
7. "Annuario Cinetel 2013". Cinetel. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
8. "Sole a Catinelle e Checco Zalone battono Avatar: 7 milioni e mezzo di spettatori!". Blog.screenweek.it. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
9. "TOP250 tous les temps en Italie (Reprises incluses)". JP's Box-office. Archived from the original on January 10, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
10. "Anno Corrente 01/01/2024 Al 07/09/2024". cinetel.it (in Italian). 7 September 2024. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
11. "Anno Corrente Dal 01/01/2020 Al 16/10/2020". cinetel.it (in Italian). 16 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
12. "Annuario Cinetel 2023". Cinetel. pp. 12–13. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
13. "Stagionale Dal 01/08/2023 Al 31/07/2024". cinetel.it (in Italian). 31 July 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
14. "La vita è bella -info". movieplayer.it. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
15. "La classifica dei film più visti di sempre al cinema in Italia". movieplayer.it. January 25, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
16. "Anno Corrente Dal 01/01/2019 Al 09/12/2019". Cinetel. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
17. ""Che bella giornata" vs "La vita è bella"! Dati Cinetel". Sites.google.com. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
18. "Annuario Cinetel 2009". Cinetel. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
19. "Annuario Cinetel 2019". Cinetel. Retrieved 18 February 2024.

External links

• JP's Box-office Top 250 of all-time in Italy Archived 2020-01-10 at the Wayback Machine
• Ranking of the most watched Italian movies ever in the cinema in Italy