Checco Zalone breaks record with new film.
Buen Camino, the new film by Italian comedian, actor and screenwriter Checco Zalone, has broken box office records to become the most successful movie ever at cinemas in Italy.
Since its release on 25 December, the film has grossed nearly €69 million, beating previous record set by the first film in the Avatar saga which earned €68.6 million.
Last week, Buen Camino also became the highest-grossing Italian film in Italian history, surpassing Zalone’s 2016 film, Quo Vado?.Buen Camino generated €5.6 million in box office receipts on its first day – the best result ever in Italy on Christmas Day, surpassing Natale a New York (2006) – and since then more than 8.5 million people have seen the movie in Italian cinemas.
However, despite being the highest-grossing film, Buen Camino is nowhere near the record for top ticket sales, all of which occurred between the 1950s and 1970s when cinema was more popular than it is day.
Topping the list of ticket sales is Doctor Zhivago which sold 22.9 million tickets in 1965, while the second-highest-grossing film, The Godfather, sold 21.8 million in 1972.
By contrast, Quo Vado?, which until a few days ago was the highest-grossing Italian film, is 43rd in the ranking of films with the highest ticket sales in Italian cinema history.
Directed by Gennaro Nunziate, Buen Camino tells the story of a superficial millionaire who is forced to abandon his life of luxury to search for his estranged teenage daughter, eventually finding redemption while reluctantly trekking the Camino de Santiago.
Zalone is 48 and his real name is Luca Medici. He has co-written and starred in the four highest-grossing Italian films in Italy, including Solo a Catinelle (2013) and Tolo Tolo (2020).
