Articles
The International Circulation of ‘Cesare deve morire’
Cesare deve morire, directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, written together with Fabio Cavalli, was produced by Kaos Cinematografica, in collaboration with Stemal Entertainment and Rai Cinema. It is largely filmed in black and white, and the directors declared in various interviews, that the idea came from seeing performances of Shakspeare’s Julius Caesar in Neapolitan and Sicilian.
In Italy, the distribution of Cesare deve morire was organized through 41 screens and lasted 16 weeks. In the first weekend of theatrical release the film grossed $116.172 and reached a total of $961.469, through a total of 135.298 admissions.
The film had a very positive critical reception, both nationally and internationally, and won a large number of prices. In 2012 it won the Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival (the last Italian film winning a Golden Bear was 21 years earlier, with Marco Ferreri’s The House of Smiles in 1991). In the same year, it was also nominated for eight David di Donatello of which it won five including Best film, Best Director, Best Producer, Best Film Editing and Best Sound. Between 2012 and 2013, it collected numerous nominations and prizes in other Italian and international festivals.
| Release | Screens | Weeks | First Weekend ($) | Box Office ($) | Admissions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT | 2 March 2012 | 41 | 16 | 116.172 | 961.469 | 135.298 |
| CH | 17 Aoril 2014 | / | / | / | 34.827 | 2.693 |
| FR | 17 October 2012 | / | 15 | 5.063 | 20.345 | 99.710 |
| UK | 1 March 2013 | / | 1 | 10.896 | 10.896 | 5.596 |
| USA | 1 February 2013 | 4 | 20 | 10.002 | 76.908 | / |
Sources: LumièrePro, BoxOfficeMojo
Switzerland
In Switzerland the was distributed by the Cinématèque Suisse on April 17th, 2014, but as of September 2019 it does not present any SVOD or VOD distribution in the region.
France
The official release in French theatres was on October 17th, 2012, but the following year the movie took also participated at the Festival d’éducation d’Evreux, in December 2013. The official title in France was César doit mourir, and it was distributed by Bellissima Films. It can be rented or bought through VOD services like CanalVOD, RakuntenTV and others.
| Box Office ($) | Admissions | OTT - SVOD | OTT - Rent/Buy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT | 961.469 | 135.298 | / | Chili, RakutenTV, iTunes, Google Play |
| CH | 34.827 | 2.693 | / | |
| FR | 20.345 | 98.595 | / | Canal VOD, Imineo, Videofutur, FilmoTV, RakutenTV |
| UK | 10.896 | 5.596 | Amazon Prime Video | / |
| USA | 76.908 | / | Kanopi | iTunes, GooglePlay, YouTube |
UK
In UK Caesar Must Die was presented on February 15th, 2013 at the Glasgow Film Festival and distributed by New Wave, from March 1st, 2013. It remained only a few days in the theatres.
USA
In the US the movie was distributed by Adopt Film from February 1st, 2013. However, Caesar Must Die has had several early presentations in different film festivals, including the New York Film Festival (September 29th, 2012), Hawaii Film Festival (October 14th, 2012), Starz Denver Film Festival (November 10th, 2012) and St. Louis International Film Festival (November 17th, 2012).
