Italian viewer numbers and box office takings dropped in 2018, but national cinema productions continue to rise, as per statistics released by Cineteldata, which represents 92% of admissions and 94% of all proceeds officially registered by the SIAE. The Italian box office took €555,445,372 in 2018 (-4.98% compared to 2017, the lowest result since 2006) for a total of 85,903,642 admissions (-6, 89%). On the other hand, the presence of Italian productions at the box office (including co-productions) grew, taking €127.8 million in 2018 (+23.86% compared to the previous year) for a share of 23 .02% of total box office takings (compared to 17.66% in 2017) and an increase in attendance of 17.92% (19.9 million in 2018 compared to 16.8 million in 2017), representing an overall share of 23.19%.

American productions saw a drop in revenue with a total of 60.04% (in comparison to 66.35% in 2017), taking around €333.5 million at the box office (€ 387.8 million in 2017, -14%). While another of other companies did well, such as British productions (€54.8 million at the box office, market share: 9.87%, +37.57% compared to 2017), French productions (€17.1 million; market share: 3.10%, -30.47% compared to the previous year) and Spanish productions (€5.5 million, market share: 1.01%, +176.47% compared to 2017).

2018 saw 528 new films distributed in cinemas (-8 compared to 2017), of which 210 were Italian productions or co-productions (-8 compared to 2017), making up a share of 39.7% of the total percentage (40.6% in 2017). 79 additional films were also distributed in cinemas (events, special editions, re-runs, -17 compared to 2017) taking €13,063,821 in revenue (-7.49%) and totting up 1,589,501 in admissions (-1.77%).

The top box office film of 2018 was Bohemian Rhapsody [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film] with €21.2 million in takings. While the best-performing Italian films were There Is No Place Like Home [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] (€9.1 million, 11^th place), Blessed Madness [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film] (€8.4 million, 15^th place) and Like a Cat on a Highway [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film] (€7.6 million in 2018, €9.6m in total after being released on 28 December 17, 16^th place). The favourite genre of Italian films was comedy, generating about 54% of national production revenue.

The most important month for box office takings in 2018 was January (14.20% of the total, 15.25% in 2017), followed by the month of December (13.69%, 13.14% in 2017) and February (11.86%, 10.26% in 2017). While the least popular months were July (-35.23%), April (-18.61%) and March (-12.36%). But the wind seems to be about to change and the sector is pinning its hopes on its 2018 summer schedule, with a great summer for cinema on the cards, with blockbusters due to hit the big screen during the warmer months. The schedule is due to start with a strong marketing campaign and the David di Donatello awards in March.