UPI Acquires French Rights For Italian B.O. Smash Hit ‘There’s Still Tomorrow’
14.11.2023 - 10:17
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures International has acquired French rights for Italian actress and screenwriter Paolo Cortellesi’s feature directorial debut hit There’s Still Tomorrow, in a deal brokered by Vision Distribution.
The drama is currently enjoying a phenomenal box office run in Italy where it has clocked up almost two million admissions since its theatrical launch on October 26 for a box office of some €13m.
It is the best result for an Italian film this year and the biggest box office for a local picture since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.
Set in the lead up to Italy’s historic post-World War Two institutional referendum on June 2, 1946, in which women were allowed to vote for the first time, the film world premiered as the opening film of the Rome Film Festival in October.
Cortellesi stars as a downtrodden Rome housewife run ragged by her violent husband (Valerio Mastandrea) and unruly young sons as she juggles odd jobs in between cooking, cleaning and caring for her misogynist bedridden father-in-law.
It looks like her teenage daughter might avoid the same fate through her engagement to her middle-class boyfriend, until his possessive streak starts to emerge. When a mysterious letter arrives, it fires up the protagonist’s courage to overturn convention and start wishing for a better life – and not just for herself.
The work, which is shot in black-and-white but features a quirky contemporary soundtrack, clinched three awards at Rome: Jury Prize, Audience Prize and Special Jury Mention as Best First Feature.
“Speaking on behalf of the entire team at Universal Pictures International France, we are extremely proud and feel privileged to distribute this cinematic jewel in our territory,” said Xavier