Italian films' share of the domestic theatrical market dropped from 27% to 14% in the 12 months from June 1999 to May 2000 according to local exhibitors association ANEC.

Without local hits such as 1998's Life Is Beautiful or Cosi E' La Vita, US films dominated the Italian box office during the 1999-2000 season, with a market share that reached 64% compared to 57% the previous year.

Attendance at Italian films halved according to ANEC figures, from 18 million in 1998-99, to nine million in 1999-2000. Overall attendance increased by only 2%, to 68.9 million tickets, despite the 18% increase in the number of multiplex screens in the country

The year's top earning titles were Runaway Bride, American Beauty and Tarzan. The only two Italian films to earn more than $5m at the box office were Vacanze Di Natale, produced and distributed by FilmAuro, and Leonardo Pieraccioni's Il Pesce Innamorato, released by Cecchi Gori.

The total box office for the year was approximately L745bn ($372m), up about 3% from last season.