Terminator 3 opened at number one in Italy, its last international opening - and yet another first place on release - earning a powerful $2,392,393 from 511 screens for a screen average of $4,682.

But the biggest surprise of the weekend was L'Apetta Giulia E La Signora Vita, Italy's first ever 3D animation picture, which opened 7th on 153 prints, grossing a strong $146,036.

Directed by Paolo Modugno and distributed by Veronica Salvi's new arthouse label Esse & bi - which also produced the film - L'Apetta Giulia, is about a little working-class bee who dreams of rising to the heights of the honey factory Queen. As a result, every night, the Queen bee tells a fairy-tale to Giulia about human beings and their aspirations.

L'Apetta Giulia beat two other Italian new entries, both of which enjoyed a launch at the Venice Film Festival: Fandango's Liberi, a film by Gianluca Maria Tavarelli about young unemployed people in a northern Italian city, which grossed $79,824 from 153 screens, and Lucky Red's Venice Critics Week winner, Ballo A Tre Passi, which earned $69,873 from 19 screens.