09-02-2023

BOX OFFICE: Romanian Comedy Ramon Tops Domestic Charts

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    Ramon by Jesús del Cerro Ramon by Jesús del Cerro credit: Comic Entertainement

    BUCHAREST: The Romanian independent comedy Ramon by Jesús del Cerro is topping the domestic weekly charts with 45,046 admissions and 229,435 EUR / 1,123,215 RON gross over its opening weekend, according to Cinemagia.

    Leading distributor Vertical Entertainment released the film on an impressive number of 165 screens on 3 February 2023, and also launched a contest. Those who bought a cinema ticket till 31 January 2023 were in cards for winning two Iphones14 and city-breaks to Rome and Paris.

    Ramon tells the story of a regular guy whose passion for viniculture falls behind upon meeting a gorgeous woman out of his league. Leaving the countryside for Bucharest to find her, Ramon faces the asphalt jungle and becomes prime suspect in the biggest heist of the century.

    The script was penned by popular actor Pavel Bartoș together with Anghel Damian. Bartoș is also starring and producing through Comic Entertainement. Jesús del Cerro is also producing through Studio Indie Productions.

    The cast includes popular names from the cinema, TV, music and social media, such as Andreea Vasile, Smiley, Elvira Deatcu, Alexandru Ion, Selly and Carmen Tănase, among others.

    Ramon beats the independent comedy-drama Taxi Drivers / Taximetriștri by Bogdan Theodor Olteanu, which was released on 20 January 2023 and cashed in 211,326 EUR / 1,038,308 RON over its first weekend, but it is far behind Romina, VTM by Paul Răzvan Macovei, which had 233,208 admissions and 1.3 m EUR / 6,553,905 RON gross in its opening weekend (6 – 8 January 2023). Romina, VTM became the domestic film with the best opening in Romania within the last 30 years.

    Another successful new domestic film, the comedy Teambuilding directed by Matei Dima, Cosmin Nedelcu and Alex Coteț, had 35,140 admissions in its opening weekend.

    Taxi Drivers was produced by Bold Film Studio (the first film investment fund in Romania), together with Tangaj Production and Avanpost Media, and it was released by Forum Film Romania. Romina, VTM was produced by Romania’s Vidra Productions in coproduction with Selly Media Network and distributed by Vidra Productions. Teambuilding was produced and also released by Vidra Productions on 30 September 2022.

    All the titles mentioned above are independent productions, made without support from the Romanian Film Centre (CNC).