Warner Bros. Italia's first local co-production, It Can't Be All Our Fault (Ma Che Colpa Abbiamo Noi), has shot into the number one slot at the Italian box office.

Italian director Carlo Verdone's new comedy, Ma Che Colpa Abbiamo Noi (It Can't Be All Our Fault) (pictured) powered into the number one slot at the local box office on its opening weekend, proving that the Roman comic is back in favour with Italian audiences following a three-year hiatus after the disappointing performance of his last film, Un Cinese In Coma (A Chinese Man In A Coma).

The comedy - Verdone's 19th in the last 21 years - grossed an impressive Euros 1.6m from 233 screens. Distributor Warner Bros. Italia saw the movie, which focuses on a group of therapy patients left to their own devices after their therapist dies in the middle of one of their sessions, take a bullish screen average of Euros 6,589.

Significantly, Ma Che Colpa Abbiamo Noi represents the first Italian-language production venture for Warner Bros. Pictures, which partnered on the comic drama with Virginia Films, the production outfit run by Verdone and Marco Scaffardi.

In addition, the Verdone film healthily outperformed the weekend's three other new entries. These were Darkness, which at number five grossed Euros 946,233 from 201 screens for distributor Eagle Pictures, with a screen average of Euros 4,708.

At number eight, Buena Vista's Spy Kids: 2 grossed a disappointing Euros 335,980 from 140 screens, for a screen average of just Euros 2,400. Medusa's Dark Blue made a timid entry into the box office at number 10, earning just Euros 272,578 from 122 screens with a screen average of Euros 2,234.

In the meantime, Christmas On The Nile (pictured), the latest in the long-running series of local Yuletide comedies from Massimo Boldi and Christian De Sica, has now stormed past Roberto Benigni's local blockbuster Pinocchio, grossing a massive Euros 27.6m for distributor Filmauro since its December 20th release, making it the top-earner of the season. Medusa's Pinocchio has earned Euros 26.2m since it opened on October 11.