Sky’s Gomorrah takes cinema bow

The new season of Gomorrah debuted in cinemas four days before its pay TV premiere

Sky has premiered the third season of gangster drama Gomorrah in more than 300 cinemas across Italy, taking the top spot at the country’s box office.

The first two episodes of Gomorrah – The Series premiered in 325 Italian cinemas on November 14 and 15 after Sky agreed a deal with Vision Distribution in what has being claimed as a first for the country’s TV and cinema industry.

The show is produced by ITV-owned prodco Cattleya and fellow Italian prodco Fandango in collaboration with German distributor Beta Film.

It topped the Italian box office yesterday after taking more than €500,000 (US$590,000) over the two days, according to local analyst group Cinetel.

More than 55,000 people were admitted to the screenings, which saw the TV series debuting on the big screen four days before its pay TV premiere.

Andrea Scrosati, executive VP of programming at Sky Italia, said the results “show that there is an opportunity to create new revenue streams and a collaboration that can benefit all the industry – from the TV production industry to the exhibitors.

“If a show that will air in three days on pay TV is at the same time on top of the movie box office it is clear that, when you have the right product, it is time to approach windowing rules in a completely new and innovative way”.

Nicola Maccanico, MD of Vision Distribution, added: “Gomorrah’s premiere in cinema, with its extraordinary audience success, confirms a founding principle of our industry: the cinema wins those who can propose great stories and emotions. ”

The show’s third season will debut on Sky Atlantic in Italy this evening and is slated to premiere in the UK and Ireland from January. Previous seasons have been sold by Beta to an array of international broadcasters, including SundanceTV in the US.

The series, which spawned a 2008 movie of the same name, is based on the bestselling book by Italian writer Roberto Saviano and tells the inside story of the Camorra, the fierce Neapolitan crime organisation.