The Twentieth Century Fox is under fire for moving the Italian release of 'Independence Day: Resurgence' from its announced July 6 bow to a September 8 slot.
- May 28, 2016
AceShowbiz - Twentieth Century Fox comes under fire in Italy for moving the Italian release of "Independence Day: Resurgence" from its initial July 6 bow to a September 8 slot. Exhibitors' organizations in Italy claim the move will have a strong negative impact on the country's summer box office intake.
Exhibitors' associations Anec and Anem have lamented that the initial release of "Independence Day: Resurgence" in July would have had "pulling power" for other summer releases and would have prompted the possibility of "offering audiences and theater owners a wide range of films for the entire summer season." They claim that "various forms of protest" could follow if Fox does not cooperate on trying to do away with Italy's box office blues going forward.
Anec's president Luigi Cuciniello said in a statement, " 'Independence Day' is our casus belli. It's obvious that we have no prejudice or ill will against Fox." Luigi calls the issue "a broader issue that concerns all distributors, starting with the majors" and "a negative signal which we have to raise awareness about."
Twentieth Century Fox Italy CEO Osvaldo De Santiis said the reason for the move was that he was offered the "unique possibility" to launch the "Independence Day" sequel in August from Rome's Terme di Caracalla Baths, customarily a venue for operas.
"We were offered this opportunity, which is a unique event that will get plenty of media attention," Osvaldo explained, "We considered this an opportunity we did not want to miss."
Osvaldo maintained that in past years Fox had been very supportive of the summer season in Italy with "positive results" from Paul Feig's "Spy" and Cara Delevingne's "Paper Towns". "Fox has done more than others [to help solve this problem]," he shared, "And by others I don't just means the Italians. We kept summer [release] dates even when those dates turned out to be dangerous."
"Independence Day: Resurgence", starring Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Vivica A. Fox, Brent Spiner, Liam Hemsworth, Jessie Usher and Maika Monroe, is set to hit U.S. theaters on June 24.
