#170. Berita Filem : 'Gomorrah' strong in limited release

Despite Oscar snub, Italian mafia film a big hit
Oscar snub? Who cares?

While some crix decried the omission of Italy's "Gomorrah" in this season's foreign-language category, Matteo Garrone's naturalistic Mafia pic has quietly been doing boffo biz Stateside, albeit in very limited release.

The film has grossed $25 million to date worldwide. Stateside, after playing in L.A. for its failed Oscar-qualifying run, IFC bowed "Gomorrah" in New York on Feb. 14 to the highest North American per-screen average prior to Presidents Day -- $20,540. In its soph outing, the pic scored a still-strong $10,087per-screen-average.

The film just expanded to the top 10 U.S. markets over the weekend before it gradually goes wider.

Meanwhile, producer Domenico Procacci, who kept mum in the immediate aftermath of the pic's Oscar exclusion, has been revealing details of his subsequent exchange with the Academy, specifically with the topper of the foreign-language branch.

"I don't want to sound like a sore loser," Procacci tells Variety. "I simply sent a letter to Mark Johnson to say that something had not worked properly in the selection process."

"Now I just hope that the system will be perfected."

"Gomorrah," which won the Cannes Jury Grand Prize and five European Academy Awards, among other kudos, has played particularly well in Gaul ($4 million), Spain ($3 million), and Blighty ($ 1.3 million to date).

Source :
Variety.com
Posted: Fri., Feb. 27, 2009, 1:01pm PT
By NICK VIVARELLI