Valentino Documentary Breaks Box Office Records

March 25, 2009 1:45 p.m. EST

Los Angeles, CA (CNS) - Valentino, the world-renowned Italian fashion designer, isn't just packing them in at runway shows. He's selling out movie theaters too. The new documentary, "Valentino: The Last Emperor", just earned the highest grossing opening weekend for a documentary in 2009. The film opened March 18th at the Film Forum, grossing $39,106 and making it one of the Film Forum's top grossing premieres in over three decades.

"Valentino: The Last Emperor" follows the designer for two years, with producer/director Matt Tyrnauer having shot over 250 hours of footage including his 45th anniversary show. "Valentino is surrounded by a tight-knit family of friends and employees, but, eventually, their guard came down and they forgot there was a camera crew in the room," Tyrnauer said about the film.

"Valentino: The Last Emperor" premiered at the last year's Venice Film Festival and has since been on a 7-month tour of international film festivals. It opened the Miami International Film Festival as well as the Hamptons Film Festival. The film will open in Chicago on March 27th, and Los Angeles and San Francisco on April 3rd. Valentino Garavani himself along with director Tyrnauer will celebrate the Los Angeles opening at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art hosted by Dame Elizabeth Taylor, Anne Hathaway, Rita Wilson, Joan Collins and more.