As this year’s Venice Film Festival prepares to kick off on August 30, Screen International looks at how 2022’s Competition titles fared at the global box office.
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The 2022 cohort included several US-financed titles that would go on to become major awards contenders, with Oscar best actor-winner The Whale the highest-grossing competition title with global takings of $54m. Its biggest international territory outside of North America was Mexico with $8.3m.
Next was nine-time Oscar nominee The Banshees Of Inisherin on $49m, helped by $11.5m in the UK and Ireland; and Bafta best actress-winner TAR, with $29m following a limited release.
Luca Guadagnino’s Bones And All also posted a solid $15.1m, with Italy the top international territory on $1.4m.
Other success stories from the Competition line-up included best international film nominee Argentina, 1985, which was the most-watched local film in the territory for 2022 and the ninth-highest grossing overall, with takings of $2.4m plus $905,000 internationally (mainly via Spain). This was an impressive result as the theatrical release was limited by Amazon Prime, which held worldwide rights.
Laura Poitras’ Golden Lion-winning documentary All the Beauty And The Bloodshed posted a solid £1.4m worldwide, grossing $500,000 in North America via Neon and $425,000 in France through Pyramide Distribution.
The festival’s strong ties with Netflix saw several of the streamers’ big projects selected, including Athena, Bardo, Blonde and White Noise. All received limited theatrical release but box office figures were kept under wraps by the streamer and so fail to make our chart.
The highest-grossing film worldwide from the overall selection was Olivia Wilde’s out-of-competition thriller Don’t Worry Darling, which reached $87m worldwide through Warner Bros.
Highest grossing Venice 2022 competition titles
| Title (country of origin) | Worldwide gross | US gross | Top intl territories (total gross, distributors) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Whale (US) | $54m | $17.4m (A24) | Mexico ($8.7m, Supra); Italy (£3.7m, I Wonder); UK-Ire ($3m, A24) |
| The Banshees Of Inisherin (Ire-UK-US) | $49.2m | $10.5m (Searchlight) | UK-Ire ($11.5m); Germany ($4.1m); Australia ($3.8m, all Disney) |
| TÁR (US) | $29m | $6.7m (Focus) | Germany ($3.5m); UK-Ire ($3.1m); France ($2.3, all UPI) |
| Bones And All (US) | $15.1M | $7.8m (United Artists) | Italy ($1.4M, Vision); UK-Ire ($720k, WB); S Korea ($525k, Lotte) |
| The Son (UK) | $3.5M | $449k (SPC) | France ($1.1m, UGC); Italy ($250k); Netherlands ($191k, The Searchers) |
| L’Immensità (It-Fr) | $2.9M | $97k (Music Box) | France ($1.4m, Cohen); Italy ($847k, Sony); Poland ($360k, BestFilm.eu) |
| Argentina, 1985 (Arg-US) | $2.7m | N/A | Argentina ($1.8m, Digicine); Spain ($871k, A Contracorriente) |
| Other People’s Children (Fr) | $2.8m | $79k (Music Box) | France ($2.6m, Ad Vitam); Spain ($62k, Caramel) |
| Lord Of The Ants (It) | $1.6m | N/A | Italy ($1.6m, The Searchers) |
| All The Beauty And The Bloodshed (US) | $1.4m | $500k (Neon) | France ($425k, Pyramide); Netherlands ($190k, Cineart); UK-Ire ($190k, Altitude) |
| Our Ties (Fr) | $1.4m | N/A | France ($1.6m, Le Pacte) |
| No Bears (Iran) | $1.2m | $167k (Janus) | France ($306k, ARP); Italy ($257k, Academy) |
All figures from Box Office Mojo
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