Robert De Niro had a few choice words for former President Donald Trump on this morning’s episode of The View. The actor was censored a total of four times for his language used to describe the “vicious” Republican candidate. De Niro has never been afraid of being vocal about his dislike for the former Potus. When The View hosts began to discuss the upcoming presidential election, the actor did not hold back, comparing Trump to the likes of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. “I don’t understand why people are not taking him seriously. You read about it historically in other countries that they didn’t take people seriously — Hitler, Mussolini,” De Niro said. “Who does not think that this guy is not gonna do exactly what he says he’s gonna do? He’s done it already.” ABC As the conversation continued, he turned...
- 5/14/2024
- TV Insider
Italian producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli are entering the Mediawan fold after recently exiting Fremantle to jointly form a new independent outfit.
The two producers will both be in Cannes as executive producers with Fremantle movies premiering in the Cannes competition, Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Limonov” and Paolo Sorrentino’s “Parthenope,” respectively.
Mediawan, the production powerhouse that now comprises more than 85 labels around the world, is in the process of acquiring a 51% majority stake in Gianani and Mieli’s Rome-based Our Films company under a deal that will officially close in September, according to several sources.
Gianani and Mieli, who declined to be interviewed for this article, are still closely tied to Fremantle even after exiting their Fremantle-owned banners, Wildside and the Apartment, earlier this year. As previously announced, they have a co-production deal with Fremantle under which they will continue to shepherd a number of projects that they had in the Fremantle pipeline.
The two producers will both be in Cannes as executive producers with Fremantle movies premiering in the Cannes competition, Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Limonov” and Paolo Sorrentino’s “Parthenope,” respectively.
Mediawan, the production powerhouse that now comprises more than 85 labels around the world, is in the process of acquiring a 51% majority stake in Gianani and Mieli’s Rome-based Our Films company under a deal that will officially close in September, according to several sources.
Gianani and Mieli, who declined to be interviewed for this article, are still closely tied to Fremantle even after exiting their Fremantle-owned banners, Wildside and the Apartment, earlier this year. As previously announced, they have a co-production deal with Fremantle under which they will continue to shepherd a number of projects that they had in the Fremantle pipeline.
- 5/14/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli and Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Pack One Bag is a new podcast documentary series that tells the story of two Italians married on the run escaping Mussolini’s “Racial Laws,” and the story of the family they left behind, fighting to survive the Nazi occupation of Rome.
It comes from documentarian David Modigliani, who was behind HBO’s Running with Beto, who is the grandson of the pair, and Stanley Tucci who lends his voice to the story and exec produces.
The ten-part series is distributed by Lemonada Media, the company that recently struck a major podcast deal with Meghan Markle, as revealed by Deadline. It premieres on June 5.
Tucci is also developing a scripted television adaptation with Modigliani.
Modigliani’s grandfather, Italian-born economist Franco Modigliani, won the Nobel Prize in 1985. But, behind the love story that made his victory possible – a fairytale escape from Fascist Italy with his soon-to-be-bride Serena and her family...
It comes from documentarian David Modigliani, who was behind HBO’s Running with Beto, who is the grandson of the pair, and Stanley Tucci who lends his voice to the story and exec produces.
The ten-part series is distributed by Lemonada Media, the company that recently struck a major podcast deal with Meghan Markle, as revealed by Deadline. It premieres on June 5.
Tucci is also developing a scripted television adaptation with Modigliani.
Modigliani’s grandfather, Italian-born economist Franco Modigliani, won the Nobel Prize in 1985. But, behind the love story that made his victory possible – a fairytale escape from Fascist Italy with his soon-to-be-bride Serena and her family...
- 5/8/2024
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Actor Robert De Niro once more criticized former President Donald Trump. The famed actor, 80, spoke on MSNBC’s The 11th Hour and publicly slammed Trump. Since Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, De Niro has been outspoken about his negative views on Trump.
In the interview, De Niro warned people about Trump’s potential return to the White House if he wins this year’s election. He referred to Trump as “a sick person,” “narcissistic,” a “monster” and a “stupid bully.” However, in the same segment, De Niro stated he was “tired of calling [Trump] names.”
De Niro then drew comparisons between Adolf Hilter, Benito Mussolini and Trump. “Historically, from what I see, even in Nazi Germany, they had it with Hitler. They don’t take him seriously. He looks like a clown. Acts like a clown. Mussolini. Same thing. These guys, I don’t know why they look like clowns.”
De Niro...
In the interview, De Niro warned people about Trump’s potential return to the White House if he wins this year’s election. He referred to Trump as “a sick person,” “narcissistic,” a “monster” and a “stupid bully.” However, in the same segment, De Niro stated he was “tired of calling [Trump] names.”
De Niro then drew comparisons between Adolf Hilter, Benito Mussolini and Trump. “Historically, from what I see, even in Nazi Germany, they had it with Hitler. They don’t take him seriously. He looks like a clown. Acts like a clown. Mussolini. Same thing. These guys, I don’t know why they look like clowns.”
De Niro...
- 5/5/2024
- by Ann Hoang
- Uinterview
Italian state broadcaster Rai is under heavy fire amid allegations that it censored a planned anti-fascist monologue by prominent writer Antonio Scurati, author of international bestseller “M: Son of the Century,” which reconstructs fascist dictator Benito Mussolini’s rise to power.
Scurati was meant to read his monologue – written to mark the country’s upcoming April 25 national holiday that celebrates Italy’s liberation from fascism – on the talk show “Chesarà,” which aired on the broadcaster’s Rai 3 channel Saturday night.
Shortly before the show’s airtime, as the writer prepared to travel to Rome, he received a note from Rai informing him that his appearance had been canceled “for editorial reasons,” according to an internal Rai document published by leftist daily La Repubblica.
In protest against the sudden muzzling, “Chesarà” host Serena Bortone read out the monologue in full on the talk show herself. Scurati’s text has also...
Scurati was meant to read his monologue – written to mark the country’s upcoming April 25 national holiday that celebrates Italy’s liberation from fascism – on the talk show “Chesarà,” which aired on the broadcaster’s Rai 3 channel Saturday night.
Shortly before the show’s airtime, as the writer prepared to travel to Rome, he received a note from Rai informing him that his appearance had been canceled “for editorial reasons,” according to an internal Rai document published by leftist daily La Repubblica.
In protest against the sudden muzzling, “Chesarà” host Serena Bortone read out the monologue in full on the talk show herself. Scurati’s text has also...
- 4/22/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Juno Films has acquired US and multiple territory rights to Aleksander Sokurov’s Fairytale following its world premiere in Locarno Film Festival last summer.
‘Fairytale’: Locarno Review
The distributor plans a late autumn release in the US after a festival run, and will also distribute the feature theatrically in the UK.
Additionally Juno has acquired rights in Australia and New Zealand, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands and will handle festival releases in those territories.
Fairytale was blocked by Russian censors and situates 20th century leaders Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Winston Churchill in Purgatory, where they...
‘Fairytale’: Locarno Review
The distributor plans a late autumn release in the US after a festival run, and will also distribute the feature theatrically in the UK.
Additionally Juno has acquired rights in Australia and New Zealand, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands and will handle festival releases in those territories.
Fairytale was blocked by Russian censors and situates 20th century leaders Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Winston Churchill in Purgatory, where they...
- 4/15/2024
- ScreenDaily
Little is known about Rafaela, the model who posed nude for Polish painter Tamara Łempicka, better known as Tamara de Lempicka, in the late 1920s. But whomever she was, Lempicka got a whole lot out of her, creating a series of portraits including one of her most celebrated works, La Belle Rafaela. Rafaela’s significance in the artist’s life is evident from their first encounter in Lempicka, the new biographical Broadway musical: “Is this how it feels when God sends you a muse and you let her walk away?” Tamara (Eden Espinosa) sings upon spying the model (Amber Iman), here imagined as a wily Parisian sex worker.
But though Tamara clings to her muse in more ways that one, embarking on a (fictional) years-long affair, the creators of Lempicka let their own muse walk away. Turns out, the fascinating life of the undervalued painter that inspired them proves a...
But though Tamara clings to her muse in more ways that one, embarking on a (fictional) years-long affair, the creators of Lempicka let their own muse walk away. Turns out, the fascinating life of the undervalued painter that inspired them proves a...
- 4/15/2024
- by Dan Rubins
- Slant Magazine
When confronted about describing immigrants with terms like “vermin” and “poisoning the blood” favored by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, former president Donald Trump not only defended using Nazi rhetoric but repeated it: “I didn’t know that, but that’s what they say. Because our country is being poisoned.”
Trump made the comments in an interview with Fox News’ Howard Kurtz that aired less than 24 hours after the former president said at a rally that some migrants to the U.S. are “not people… these are animals.”
“When you...
Trump made the comments in an interview with Fox News’ Howard Kurtz that aired less than 24 hours after the former president said at a rally that some migrants to the U.S. are “not people… these are animals.”
“When you...
- 3/17/2024
- by Peter Wade
- Rollingstone.com
During The Daily Show segment “Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse” released Tuesday, correspondent Jordan Klepper headed to a Trump rally to ask supporters about presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s chances at the primary and the possibility of a Trump dictatorship, which the former president has alluded to and then later claimed he was kidding about it. To some Trump supporters, some of whom were dressed in American flag swim trunks and Maga caps, the answer rolled off their tongue.
One supporter suggested, “that’s what we need,” in reference to the dictatorship.
One supporter suggested, “that’s what we need,” in reference to the dictatorship.
- 2/14/2024
- by Kalia Richardson
- Rollingstone.com
Not since the days of Ben-Hur, Cleopatra and Fellini classics like La Dolce Vita has Rome enjoyed the boom in film production it’s experiencing at the moment. From Tom Cruise racing through the eternal city’s narrow streets in Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, to Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated immigrant drama Lo Capitano, the Italian capital is in the midst of a resurgence that harkens back to its “Hollywood on the Tiber” heyday.
At the center of all this activity is Cinecitta, the famed studio facility that now, after years of dormancy, is operating at 100 percent capacity thanks to a number of technical upgrades, increased studio space and a tax incentive that offers producers a 40 percent rebate on production expenditures. The studio has recently hosted a number of high-profile productions, including Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, based on the William S. Burroughs novel of the same name and starring Daniel Craig,...
At the center of all this activity is Cinecitta, the famed studio facility that now, after years of dormancy, is operating at 100 percent capacity thanks to a number of technical upgrades, increased studio space and a tax incentive that offers producers a 40 percent rebate on production expenditures. The studio has recently hosted a number of high-profile productions, including Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, based on the William S. Burroughs novel of the same name and starring Daniel Craig,...
- 1/29/2024
- by Kevin Cassidy
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Nicola Maccanico, a former Warner Bros. and Sky Italia senior exec, has been spearheading the radical overhaul of Rome’s Cinecittà Studios since April 2021, when the government-owned facilities embarked on a mission to secure a multi-million dollar loan provided by the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund.
Three years later, the studios are equipped with 20 state-of-the-art soundstages, including one of Europe’s largest LED walls, and have become a magnet for Hollywood productions such as Roland Emmerich’s gladiator series “Those About to Die.” As the production hiatus brought on by the Hollywood strikes eases up, more U.S. shoots are soon to come, he vows.
Below, Maccanico discusses with Variety what he’s accomplished in terms of reviving the studios and what remains to be done.
The first phase of the Cinecittà revamp plan seems to be complete. How tough has it been?
I was called to head Cinecittà...
Three years later, the studios are equipped with 20 state-of-the-art soundstages, including one of Europe’s largest LED walls, and have become a magnet for Hollywood productions such as Roland Emmerich’s gladiator series “Those About to Die.” As the production hiatus brought on by the Hollywood strikes eases up, more U.S. shoots are soon to come, he vows.
Below, Maccanico discusses with Variety what he’s accomplished in terms of reviving the studios and what remains to be done.
The first phase of the Cinecittà revamp plan seems to be complete. How tough has it been?
I was called to head Cinecittà...
- 1/17/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Hollywood, with its lengthy list of Jewish founders, flourished during an era of rampant antisemitism. In recent years, the Anti-Defamation League has said anti-Jewish sentiment has hit levels unseen since after the Great Depression, a time when Jewish studio moguls had difficulty securing bank loans as many lenders would not work with Jews. Now, in Los Angeles specifically, an Adl report (released months before the Israel-Hamas conflict) found harassment and vandalism increasing to highs.
On Nov. 8, the Los Angeles Museum of Tolerance hosted a screening of footage produced by Hamas to brag about murdering Jews. During the screening, the head of the Museum of Tolerance, Rabbi Marvin Hier, reminded viewers that if not for atrocities like the one on Oct. 7, the Jewish global population should be 200 million today, but “there are only 14 million because we are the leftovers of pogroms.” The screening, organized in part by Gal Gadot, saw protestors...
On Nov. 8, the Los Angeles Museum of Tolerance hosted a screening of footage produced by Hamas to brag about murdering Jews. During the screening, the head of the Museum of Tolerance, Rabbi Marvin Hier, reminded viewers that if not for atrocities like the one on Oct. 7, the Jewish global population should be 200 million today, but “there are only 14 million because we are the leftovers of pogroms.” The screening, organized in part by Gal Gadot, saw protestors...
- 11/27/2023
- by Chris Yogerst
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Donald Trump’s campaign is defending the former president’s use of the word “vermin” to describe his opponents and detractors after receiving backlash for echoing a term used by brutal authoritarian dictators like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
“We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections,” Trump said in a Veterans Day speech on Saturday after using the term in a social-media post earlier that same day.
“We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical-left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections,” Trump said in a Veterans Day speech on Saturday after using the term in a social-media post earlier that same day.
- 11/13/2023
- by Peter Wade
- Rollingstone.com
Fellini, Visconti, Loren, Heston, Hepburn, Peck, Taylor, Burton … a dream dinner party of talent graced the grounds of Rome’s renowned Cinecittà film studios during the so-called “Hollywood on the Tiber” period — named after the river that runs through the Italian capital.
From the epic Quo Vadis in 1951 right through to Peter Sellers’ Pink Panther in 1963, the city was burning with big film-production energy. Hollywood studios clamored to record runaway English-language projects there, lapping up the local subsidies, lower costs and unfrozen international funds; peaking with Cleopatra in 1963 — at that time the most expensive title ever made. And now, thanks to both enduring appeal and a similar dynamic that created the post-war boom time, the U.S. film world is starting to take very frequent Roman holidays once again.
“Italy, in recent years, is experiencing a new renaissance in the movie industry,” says Alessandra Rainaldi, trade commissioner of the Italian...
From the epic Quo Vadis in 1951 right through to Peter Sellers’ Pink Panther in 1963, the city was burning with big film-production energy. Hollywood studios clamored to record runaway English-language projects there, lapping up the local subsidies, lower costs and unfrozen international funds; peaking with Cleopatra in 1963 — at that time the most expensive title ever made. And now, thanks to both enduring appeal and a similar dynamic that created the post-war boom time, the U.S. film world is starting to take very frequent Roman holidays once again.
“Italy, in recent years, is experiencing a new renaissance in the movie industry,” says Alessandra Rainaldi, trade commissioner of the Italian...
- 11/1/2023
- by Becky Lucas
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Investment in original content production continues to grow in Italy where resources across all genres reached a total of €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion) thanks to increased investments from U.S. streamers. But linear TV remains the Italian industry’s main driver.
That’s the main takeaway from the annual report on local production presented on Friday by Italy’s TV producers’ association APA at Rome’s Mia market
The $1.9 billion pot of cash poured into Italian productions of all types in 2022 represented only a small increase over 2021, which is when local originals were boosted by a 55% post-pandemic growth spurt, according to figures from the APA report.
Film and TV product currently account for 55% of these investments with an increase in resources now going into documentaries and animation product mostly destined for streaming play.
“The constantly growing investment from streamers is currently worth almost a third of the total TV market,” said APA chief Chiara Sbarigia.
That’s the main takeaway from the annual report on local production presented on Friday by Italy’s TV producers’ association APA at Rome’s Mia market
The $1.9 billion pot of cash poured into Italian productions of all types in 2022 represented only a small increase over 2021, which is when local originals were boosted by a 55% post-pandemic growth spurt, according to figures from the APA report.
Film and TV product currently account for 55% of these investments with an increase in resources now going into documentaries and animation product mostly destined for streaming play.
“The constantly growing investment from streamers is currently worth almost a third of the total TV market,” said APA chief Chiara Sbarigia.
- 10/13/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The title character of “Comandante,” Salvatore Todaro (Pierfrancesco Favino), is a submarine commander in the Italian Royal Navy who has a different spirit from the military machos we tend to encounter in movies. He’s certainly tough enough — a bruiser with a dark edge. “Comandante” is set during the early days of World War II (September and October 1940), and as Salvatore leads the crew of the Cappellini, an iron hulk of an underwater vessel equipped with a dozen torpedoes and a pair of machine guns, he’s not shy about his dedication to blowing up his enemies.
But he’s also a saddened romantic warrior with the heart of a poet. As the men prepare to board the sub, Salvatore assembles them for a pep talk, and his look is striking: the double-breasted brown leather coat, the coiffed hair and thick goatee, the gleam of burning-eyed fatalism. Favino resembles a...
But he’s also a saddened romantic warrior with the heart of a poet. As the men prepare to board the sub, Salvatore assembles them for a pep talk, and his look is striking: the double-breasted brown leather coat, the coiffed hair and thick goatee, the gleam of burning-eyed fatalism. Favino resembles a...
- 8/30/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
The Venice Film Festival kicks off its 80th edition on Wednesday with Italian director Edoardo De Angelis’s World War Two Italian submarine drama Comandante.
The Golden Lion contender was propelled into the prestigious opening slot in July when Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers was pulled, as it became clear that the film’s starry cast topped by Zendaya would not be able to attend due to the actors’ strike.
Italian and Belgian talent will be leading the red carpet instead at the opening gala.
Multi-award-winning Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino leads the cast as real-life, Italian World War Two Submarine commander Salvatore Todaro.
As commander of the then brand new Italian submarine Cappellini, he led missions in the Atlantic alongside German U-boats sinking merchant sea vessels carrying supplies for the Allies.
He earned himself a place in history, however, after he defied orders and rescued 26 Belgian merchant...
The Golden Lion contender was propelled into the prestigious opening slot in July when Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers was pulled, as it became clear that the film’s starry cast topped by Zendaya would not be able to attend due to the actors’ strike.
Italian and Belgian talent will be leading the red carpet instead at the opening gala.
Multi-award-winning Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino leads the cast as real-life, Italian World War Two Submarine commander Salvatore Todaro.
As commander of the then brand new Italian submarine Cappellini, he led missions in the Atlantic alongside German U-boats sinking merchant sea vessels carrying supplies for the Allies.
He earned himself a place in history, however, after he defied orders and rescued 26 Belgian merchant...
- 8/30/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Are you tired of the same old vacation spots? Looking for something a little more… spine-chilling? Pack your bags and your courage, because we've compiled a list of 13 ghostly getaways that offer more than just a comfortable bed and complimentary breakfast. These haunted hotels are brimming with spectral guests who have never checked out. From tragic love stories to mischievous jesters, each location offers a unique glimpse into the otherworldly.
Ready to make a reservation? Read on, if you dare!
Monte Cristo Homestead in Junee, New South Wales. | Bidgee
1. Monte Cristo Homestead – New South Wales, Australia
Known as Australia's most haunted house, the Monte Cristo Homestead has seen its share of tragedy. Seven deaths have occurred on the property, including a young child who was dropped down the stairs by a nanny. Guests have reported seeing apparitions and hearing mysterious footsteps. If you're looking for a truly haunting experience, this is the place to be.
Ready to make a reservation? Read on, if you dare!
Monte Cristo Homestead in Junee, New South Wales. | Bidgee
1. Monte Cristo Homestead – New South Wales, Australia
Known as Australia's most haunted house, the Monte Cristo Homestead has seen its share of tragedy. Seven deaths have occurred on the property, including a young child who was dropped down the stairs by a nanny. Guests have reported seeing apparitions and hearing mysterious footsteps. If you're looking for a truly haunting experience, this is the place to be.
- 8/3/2023
- by Ian Banks
Sprawling Cinecittà complex is in demand again thanks to tax breaks and boom in film and TV production
Walk through the 1930s-built, dusty pink gates of Cinecittà, the legendary film studios in Rome, and the magic of its golden era is immediately palpable. This is where Charlton Heston rode to victory in his chariot race in Ben Hur, which went on to win 11 Oscars. It is where the real-life love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton played out on the set of Cleopatra, and where Federico Fellini produced classics including La Dolce Vita and Amarcord.
The sprawling Cinecittà was opened with great pomp by Benito Mussolini in 1937, in part to make films promoting the dictator’s fascist propaganda. During the second world war it was first occupied by the Nazis and later became a refuge to the thousands made homeless by the allied bombing of the Italian capital.
Continue reading.
Walk through the 1930s-built, dusty pink gates of Cinecittà, the legendary film studios in Rome, and the magic of its golden era is immediately palpable. This is where Charlton Heston rode to victory in his chariot race in Ben Hur, which went on to win 11 Oscars. It is where the real-life love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton played out on the set of Cleopatra, and where Federico Fellini produced classics including La Dolce Vita and Amarcord.
The sprawling Cinecittà was opened with great pomp by Benito Mussolini in 1937, in part to make films promoting the dictator’s fascist propaganda. During the second world war it was first occupied by the Nazis and later became a refuge to the thousands made homeless by the allied bombing of the Italian capital.
Continue reading.
- 7/14/2023
- by Angela Giuffrida in Rome
- The Guardian - Film News
British director Joe Wright, who helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour” – which earned Gary Oldman an Oscar for his portrayal as the British prime minister – has now changed historical sides.
Wright is at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios shooting high-end TV drama “M. Son of the Century” which chronicles Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. A timely tale because, as he puts it: “Populist leaders are sprouting up all over the world.”
Aesthetically, the show will be “quite outlandish” with deeply saturated colors, punctuated by a “kind of techno score,” the director said during a recent set visit. Though “It’s not told in a vérité style,” Wright pointed out that “All the facts of what happened, they’re all there.”
Luca Marinelli plays Mussolini during the period between 1919, when he founded the fascist party in Italy, and 1925 when – having gained power with the 1922 March on Rome – Mussolini made an infamous...
Wright is at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios shooting high-end TV drama “M. Son of the Century” which chronicles Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. A timely tale because, as he puts it: “Populist leaders are sprouting up all over the world.”
Aesthetically, the show will be “quite outlandish” with deeply saturated colors, punctuated by a “kind of techno score,” the director said during a recent set visit. Though “It’s not told in a vérité style,” Wright pointed out that “All the facts of what happened, they’re all there.”
Luca Marinelli plays Mussolini during the period between 1919, when he founded the fascist party in Italy, and 1925 when – having gained power with the 1922 March on Rome – Mussolini made an infamous...
- 4/17/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The camera pans upwards. We see a balcony and a sliver of a window. A voice calls “Action!” Luca Marinelli emerges, dressed as Benito Mussolini. He looks down on the street below. Suddenly, he turns to the camera and speaks directly to the audience, the image of charm and seduction: “I’ve always loved dogs,” he quips.
This scene sums up the essence of M. Son of the Century, the new eight-episode limited series, directed by Joe Wright (Atonement, Darkest Hour) and produced by Sky Studios and Lorenzo Mieli’s Fremantle-owned The Apartment Pictures, in collaboration with Pathé and Small Forward. The series may be, as Nils Hartmann, executive vp of Sky Studios Italy and Germany says, repeatedly, the “largest and most ambitious” project the Comcast-owned studio is working on, but what stands out is the show’s unique tone and rhythm. The story of the rise of...
This scene sums up the essence of M. Son of the Century, the new eight-episode limited series, directed by Joe Wright (Atonement, Darkest Hour) and produced by Sky Studios and Lorenzo Mieli’s Fremantle-owned The Apartment Pictures, in collaboration with Pathé and Small Forward. The series may be, as Nils Hartmann, executive vp of Sky Studios Italy and Germany says, repeatedly, the “largest and most ambitious” project the Comcast-owned studio is working on, but what stands out is the show’s unique tone and rhythm. The story of the rise of...
- 4/17/2023
- by Gianmaria Tammaro
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Rome’s Cinecittà Studios are generating a profit for the first time in years amid a radical upgrade, overhaul, and expansion of the filming facilities where Hollywood productions are now flocking on a scale comparable with its glory days.
Roland Emmerich last month started shooting his gladiator series “Those About to Die” starring Anthony Hopkins as Emperor Vespasian; Joe Wright is in the midst of production on TV series “M,” about Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. And in January cameras started rolling in the “City of Cinema” on Netflix’s period soap “The Decameron.” These are among the biggest international productions lured by the storied studios in recent years, also thanks to Italy’s 40% cash back tax rebate.
The Cinecittà revamp is being devised by CEO Nicola Maccanico who since 2021 has been implementing a plan fueled by a €300 million loan provided by the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund...
Roland Emmerich last month started shooting his gladiator series “Those About to Die” starring Anthony Hopkins as Emperor Vespasian; Joe Wright is in the midst of production on TV series “M,” about Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. And in January cameras started rolling in the “City of Cinema” on Netflix’s period soap “The Decameron.” These are among the biggest international productions lured by the storied studios in recent years, also thanks to Italy’s 40% cash back tax rebate.
The Cinecittà revamp is being devised by CEO Nicola Maccanico who since 2021 has been implementing a plan fueled by a €300 million loan provided by the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund...
- 4/4/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Sky Studios CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz has called the plethora of shows on the market “really confusing” for viewers.
In a keynote interview at Series Mania today, Frot-Coutaz addressed said the biggest challenge for platforms such as Comcast-owned Sky as one of discoverability.
“The challenges of the industry have always been partnering with the right creatives and executing things well,” she said. “What’s changed massively recently is there’s just too much product. For consumers it’s really confusing.”
The challenge was ensuring programs could cut through and reach the right audiences. “There’s going to be a real demand for simplification,” she said.
Related: Deadline’s Full Coverage Of Series Mania 2023
Elsewhere in her talk, Frot-Coutaz declined to comment on reports Sky is looking at selling Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland, and instead spoke about the Sky Studios departments in Italy and Germany work together and with Sky UK & Ireland.
In a keynote interview at Series Mania today, Frot-Coutaz addressed said the biggest challenge for platforms such as Comcast-owned Sky as one of discoverability.
“The challenges of the industry have always been partnering with the right creatives and executing things well,” she said. “What’s changed massively recently is there’s just too much product. For consumers it’s really confusing.”
The challenge was ensuring programs could cut through and reach the right audiences. “There’s going to be a real demand for simplification,” she said.
Related: Deadline’s Full Coverage Of Series Mania 2023
Elsewhere in her talk, Frot-Coutaz declined to comment on reports Sky is looking at selling Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland, and instead spoke about the Sky Studios departments in Italy and Germany work together and with Sky UK & Ireland.
- 3/23/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
The Boondock Saints became a giant cult hit when it hit home video and, indeed, is a movie both loved and hated on this site. The film seemed to come out of nowhere. No one seemed to remember its theatrical run, but word of mouth soon made this film a huge underground hit. Why was this film so unknown? A multitude of factors played into the film’s mystery. Bad timing for the release, possibly bad word of mouth from a very famous studio head, and the biggest problem with the whole thing, the writer/director.
Troy Duffy had moved out to Los Angeles to try and find success with his band, The Brood. They booked gigs playing in numerous taverns but hadn’t made much headway in securing a studio contract. While he waited for his big moment to happen, he got a job slinging drinks at the bar J.
Troy Duffy had moved out to Los Angeles to try and find success with his band, The Brood. They booked gigs playing in numerous taverns but hadn’t made much headway in securing a studio contract. While he waited for his big moment to happen, he got a job slinging drinks at the bar J.
- 3/22/2023
- by Bryan Wolford
- JoBlo.com
In this video we look at the Incredible VFX for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio by the masters at Mpc. Led by VFX Supervisor Aaron Weintraub and VFX Producer Emma Gorbey, the primary objective of the visual effects work was to support the filmmaker’s vision and match the practical, stop-motion aesthetic of the film, expertly crafted by the teams at ShadowMachine and The Henson Company.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio stars Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Cate Blanchett, Christoph Waltz and was directed by Guillermo del Toro & Mark Gustafson. We spoke to the cast and crew at the film’s UK Premiere at last year’s London Film Festival.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is on Netflix now.
Plot:
In 1930s Italy, where fascist dictator Benito Mussolini rules with an iron fist, carpenter Geppetto’s life is dominated by his grief over the loss of Carlo, his 10-year-old son.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio stars Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Cate Blanchett, Christoph Waltz and was directed by Guillermo del Toro & Mark Gustafson. We spoke to the cast and crew at the film’s UK Premiere at last year’s London Film Festival.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is on Netflix now.
Plot:
In 1930s Italy, where fascist dictator Benito Mussolini rules with an iron fist, carpenter Geppetto’s life is dominated by his grief over the loss of Carlo, his 10-year-old son.
- 3/21/2023
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Fairytale will have its North American premiere at Locarno in Los Angeles, running March 16 - 19, 2023.Fairytale, director Aleksandr Sokurov’s first film in seven years, arrived at its world premiere at last year’s Locarno Film Festival with little advance notice. A fanciful title and a cryptic artist’s statement was all most viewers had to go on when encountering what is, as I wrote in my festival report, arguably “the Russian master’s most left-field offering yet: a speculative fiction made with deepfake technology that imagines an encounter between Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Benito Mussolini, and Winston Churchill.”Composed almost entirely of lightly animated archival footage, Fairytale plays like a belated companion piece to Sokurov’s series of biographical and mythological portrait films (collectively known as the “Tetralogy of Power”) that explore the psychological nuances of tyranny. But whereas those films centered on single subjects, the director’s latest...
- 3/15/2023
- MUBI
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, beating out Turning Red, The Sea Beast, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.
This marks writer-director Guillermo del Toro’s third Oscar win and his first win in the Animated Feature category, as well as the first nomination and win for director Mark Gustafson and producers Alex Bulkley and Gary Ungar. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio also marks Netflix’s first win in the Best Animated Feature Oscar category.
“Animation is cinema,” said del Toro. “Animation is not a genre and animation is ready to be taken to the next step. We are all ready for it. Please help us keep animation in the conversation.”
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio delivers a visually stunning stop-motion adaptation of the Pinocchio fable, reimagining the story in 1930s Italy during the Fascist reign of Benito Mussolini.
This marks writer-director Guillermo del Toro’s third Oscar win and his first win in the Animated Feature category, as well as the first nomination and win for director Mark Gustafson and producers Alex Bulkley and Gary Ungar. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio also marks Netflix’s first win in the Best Animated Feature Oscar category.
“Animation is cinema,” said del Toro. “Animation is not a genre and animation is ready to be taken to the next step. We are all ready for it. Please help us keep animation in the conversation.”
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio delivers a visually stunning stop-motion adaptation of the Pinocchio fable, reimagining the story in 1930s Italy during the Fascist reign of Benito Mussolini.
- 3/13/2023
- by Ryan Fleming
- Deadline Film + TV
After joining Guillermo del Toro on the project over 10 years ago, producers Alex Bulkley and Corey Campodonico finally got to see the fruits of their labor when Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio premiered last year. Del Toro’s Netflix adaptation of the Carlo Collodi story takes place in 1930s Italy, during the Fascist reign of Benito Mussolini. In this story, woodcarver Geppetto (David Bradley) loses his son Carlo in an aerial bombing and carves Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) from the tree at his son’s grave. Bulkley and Campodonico’s animation studio, ShadowMachine, was responsible for the stop-motion animation of the film, and the pair were incredibly excited to go on this long journey with del Toro.
Deadline: What excited you about Guillermo del Toro’s version of the Pinocchio story?
Corey Campodonico: What is so cool about a property that’s been touched throughout the years and is such an iconic property,...
Deadline: What excited you about Guillermo del Toro’s version of the Pinocchio story?
Corey Campodonico: What is so cool about a property that’s been touched throughout the years and is such an iconic property,...
- 2/28/2023
- by Ryan Fleming
- Deadline Film + TV
“I saw the Disney film when I was very, very young, and it made a huge impression,” Guillermo del Toro said during a panel for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio at Deadline’s Contenders: The Nominees event, where he was joined by director Mark Gustafson. “What sat wrong with me was the idea that you needed to be obedient to be a real boy, and that you needed to be transformed into something you were not to be loved.”
Related Story ‘Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio’: Read The Screenplay For Oscar Winner’s Take On Classic Tale Related Story 'Eo' Director Jerzy Skolimowski And Co-Writer Ewa Piaskowska On Challenges Of Working With Animals: "We Were Terribly Optimistic" – Contenders Film: The Nominees Related Story 'Fire Of Love' Team On Their Volcanic Love Story For The Ages – Contenders Film: The Nominees
Del Toro’s Netflix adaptation of...
Related Story ‘Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio’: Read The Screenplay For Oscar Winner’s Take On Classic Tale Related Story 'Eo' Director Jerzy Skolimowski And Co-Writer Ewa Piaskowska On Challenges Of Working With Animals: "We Were Terribly Optimistic" – Contenders Film: The Nominees Related Story 'Fire Of Love' Team On Their Volcanic Love Story For The Ages – Contenders Film: The Nominees
Del Toro’s Netflix adaptation of...
- 2/18/2023
- by Ryan Fleming
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s impossible to talk about Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio without considering the music. Del Toro’s Netflix adaptation of the Carlo Collodi story takes place in 1930s Italy, during the Fascist reign of Benito Mussolini. In this story, woodcarver Geppetto (David Bradley) loses his son Carlo in an aerial bombing and carves Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) from the tree at his son’s grave. Composer Alexandre Desplat, who worked with del Toro on The Shape of Water, was tasked with capturing the “joyous melancholy” of the wooden boy in music. To enhance the connection between the character of Pinocchio and the music, Desplat made the choice to only use wooden instruments in the score. Below, Desplat breaks down three key pieces of the score – “Carlo’s Theme,” “Going to Town” and “Saving Geppetto” – with the corresponding scenes included for reference.
“Carlo’s Theme” was the first piece of the score that Desplat wrote.
“Carlo’s Theme” was the first piece of the score that Desplat wrote.
- 2/10/2023
- by Ryan Fleming
- Deadline Film + TV
Guillermo del Toro is keenly aware of the motifs and themes that occur, and occur again, in his work. He often embraces them. For instance, the Mexican auteur freely suggested to us last month that his latest film, the Oscar-nomianted Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, is part of a spiritual trilogy with The Devil’s Backbone (2001) and Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)—movies that all deal with childhood innocence enduring beneath the shadow of fascism and oppression.
Yet another element that frequently goes overlooked in his oeuvre is that of the artist and their commercial benefactor; the creator and the exploiter. This dynamic is given a fatally noirish bent in del Toro’s last Best Picture nominee, Nightmare Alley (2021). That film, which is based on a William Lindsay Gresham novel of the same name, sees a small-time carnival huckster learn how a “Geek” is made—which in the early 20th century referred to poor...
Yet another element that frequently goes overlooked in his oeuvre is that of the artist and their commercial benefactor; the creator and the exploiter. This dynamic is given a fatally noirish bent in del Toro’s last Best Picture nominee, Nightmare Alley (2021). That film, which is based on a William Lindsay Gresham novel of the same name, sees a small-time carnival huckster learn how a “Geek” is made—which in the early 20th century referred to poor...
- 1/27/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
Most are introduced to the tale of Pinocchio by Walt Disney. The wooden boy with a nose that grows was the star of Disney's second produced picture, arriving in 1940 on the heels of 1937's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." While Disney is an essential piece to Pinocchio's legend, the story does not begin or end with them.
Guillermo del Toro, one of those young boys who first met Pinocchio via the Disney film, released his own version of the story last year. Speaking to The Wrap, del Toro revealed his evolving reaction to Disney's "Pinocchio":
"I saw [Disney's] 'Pinocchio' as a very young kid, and I loved it because I found it captured how scary childhood felt to me. But I didn't quite understand why he needed to be an obedient boy to be loved. And then in my 20s, I started thinking that it would be...
Guillermo del Toro, one of those young boys who first met Pinocchio via the Disney film, released his own version of the story last year. Speaking to The Wrap, del Toro revealed his evolving reaction to Disney's "Pinocchio":
"I saw [Disney's] 'Pinocchio' as a very young kid, and I loved it because I found it captured how scary childhood felt to me. But I didn't quite understand why he needed to be an obedient boy to be loved. And then in my 20s, I started thinking that it would be...
- 1/13/2023
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
It’s no mystery why stop-motion animation is admired by critics and audiences alike. The extensive manual labor every visual composition requires keeps us connected to cinema’s tactile past, to an era when the term “special effects” referred to pyrotechnics and animatronics rather than CGI. Stop-motion features have a texture computers, as of now, are unable to successfully replicate.
CGI is a cheaper and, some feel, increasingly suitable alternative to stop motion—“Rango” and “The Lego Movie” mostly pulled it off, after all—but one artist who clearly understands the inimitable quality of stop motion, the beautifully imperfect aesthetic that’s produced by working with raw materials, is Guillermo del Toro, whose “Pinocchio” was launched on Netflix December 9. It’s hard not to be romantic about handcrafted animation when AI is generating art and big budget films are predominantly assembled out of frame.
That the umpteenth iteration of “Pinocchio...
CGI is a cheaper and, some feel, increasingly suitable alternative to stop motion—“Rango” and “The Lego Movie” mostly pulled it off, after all—but one artist who clearly understands the inimitable quality of stop motion, the beautifully imperfect aesthetic that’s produced by working with raw materials, is Guillermo del Toro, whose “Pinocchio” was launched on Netflix December 9. It’s hard not to be romantic about handcrafted animation when AI is generating art and big budget films are predominantly assembled out of frame.
That the umpteenth iteration of “Pinocchio...
- 12/29/2022
- by Ronald Meyer and Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
It’s no mystery why stop-motion animation is admired by critics and audiences alike. The extensive manual labor every visual composition requires keeps us connected to cinema’s tactile past, to an era when the term “special effects” referred to pyrotechnics and animatronics rather than CGI. Stop-motion features have a texture computers, as of now, are unable to successfully replicate.
CGI is a cheaper and, some feel, increasingly suitable alternative to stop motion—“Rango” and “The Lego Movie” mostly pulled it off, after all—but one artist who clearly understands the inimitable quality of stop motion, the beautifully imperfect aesthetic that’s produced by working with raw materials, is Guillermo del Toro, whose “Pinocchio” was launched on Netflix December 9. It’s hard not to be romantic about handcrafted animation when AI is generating art and big budget films are predominantly assembled out of frame.
See ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio...
CGI is a cheaper and, some feel, increasingly suitable alternative to stop motion—“Rango” and “The Lego Movie” mostly pulled it off, after all—but one artist who clearly understands the inimitable quality of stop motion, the beautifully imperfect aesthetic that’s produced by working with raw materials, is Guillermo del Toro, whose “Pinocchio” was launched on Netflix December 9. It’s hard not to be romantic about handcrafted animation when AI is generating art and big budget films are predominantly assembled out of frame.
See ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio...
- 12/29/2022
- by Ronald Meyer and Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
Disney swept the animation category with three nominations last Oscar season, culminating in a win for Encanto. This year, Netflix is coming on strong with more than a few contenders, including Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. DreamWorks Animation is back with a few contenders of its own, while Apple, A24 and Gkids are seeking their first Oscar win for Best Animated Feature. With only five nominations available, who will go on to compete for the prize?
Walt Disney Studios has a few contenders this year, but their frontrunner is Pixar’s Turning Red. Director Domee Shi revisited her own awkward teen years to create a story of a young girl struggling to please her family as she enters adolescence. Turning Red follows Meilin Lee (Rosalie Chiang), a 13-year-old Chinese Canadian girl from Toronto who works at her family’s temple to make her mother, Ming (Sandra Oh), proud. Due to a family blessing/curse,...
Walt Disney Studios has a few contenders this year, but their frontrunner is Pixar’s Turning Red. Director Domee Shi revisited her own awkward teen years to create a story of a young girl struggling to please her family as she enters adolescence. Turning Red follows Meilin Lee (Rosalie Chiang), a 13-year-old Chinese Canadian girl from Toronto who works at her family’s temple to make her mother, Ming (Sandra Oh), proud. Due to a family blessing/curse,...
- 12/27/2022
- by Ryan Fleming
- Deadline Film + TV
Even in the early days of silent film, movies had music. Live performers or recordings would fill the air during those early motion pictures, and when synchronized dialogue finally came to the movies, the music came with it. Movies could supply their own soundtracks, and filmmakers began injecting their films with dance numbers, popular songs, and unforgettable new compositions to underscore the drama, play up the comedy, or make the audience leap out of their seats in terror.
While there aren't as many musical movies in theaters as there used to be, everybody still loves a great musical number. The films of 2022 featured incredible music and dance numbers that made us laugh and cry, that inspired us, made us pensive, or just plain made us sad.
These are the musical numbers that will stick with us long after the calendar year is over, whether they were in a musical or not.
While there aren't as many musical movies in theaters as there used to be, everybody still loves a great musical number. The films of 2022 featured incredible music and dance numbers that made us laugh and cry, that inspired us, made us pensive, or just plain made us sad.
These are the musical numbers that will stick with us long after the calendar year is over, whether they were in a musical or not.
- 12/23/2022
- by William Bibbiani
- Slash Film
Italy in 2022 made several landmark strides in the international entertainment arena: an Italian play, Stefano Massini’s “The Lehman Trilogy,” garnered five Tony Awards, a prize the country had never conquered; Roman rock band Måneskin scored a Grammy nomination; and even as domestic box office plunged this year, Italian film exports mushroomed.
Massini’s five-hour play, which follows the three Lehman brothers from their arrival from Germany in New York in 1844 up to the 2008 bankruptcy of their global financial services company, prompted Sam Mendes to stage an English-language adaptation, which ultimately triumphed at the Tonys. Now a high-end TV series based on his play is being developed by producers Domenico Procacci and Lorenzo Mieli with Florian Zeller attached to direct. Procacci, speaking to Variety, praised Massini for managing “to tell so effectively a story that doesn’t have any Italian elements, since most of it takes place in the U.
Massini’s five-hour play, which follows the three Lehman brothers from their arrival from Germany in New York in 1844 up to the 2008 bankruptcy of their global financial services company, prompted Sam Mendes to stage an English-language adaptation, which ultimately triumphed at the Tonys. Now a high-end TV series based on his play is being developed by producers Domenico Procacci and Lorenzo Mieli with Florian Zeller attached to direct. Procacci, speaking to Variety, praised Massini for managing “to tell so effectively a story that doesn’t have any Italian elements, since most of it takes place in the U.
- 12/21/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
This article contains spoilers for Guillermo del Toro's "Pinocchio."
Guillermo del Toro made something truly magical with his adaptation of the classic children's tale, "Pinocchio." The stop-motion film is a loving interpretation of Carlo Collodi's original novel from 1883, based largely on the original source material rather than the Disney animated feature from 1940 that has dominated the public's consciousness of what a "Pinocchio" story looks like. Del Toro spent over a decade trying to bring his vision to life, with the streaming juggernaut Netflix helping push the film across the finish line, with the final product becoming the best Netflix original release of 2022. "Pinocchio" is a stunning, inventive, and heartwarming story about a wooden puppet who magically comes to life, but del Toro made one major, and welcome change to the beloved tale.
In a recent piece from Deadline, del Toro talked about how the script came to be,...
Guillermo del Toro made something truly magical with his adaptation of the classic children's tale, "Pinocchio." The stop-motion film is a loving interpretation of Carlo Collodi's original novel from 1883, based largely on the original source material rather than the Disney animated feature from 1940 that has dominated the public's consciousness of what a "Pinocchio" story looks like. Del Toro spent over a decade trying to bring his vision to life, with the streaming juggernaut Netflix helping push the film across the finish line, with the final product becoming the best Netflix original release of 2022. "Pinocchio" is a stunning, inventive, and heartwarming story about a wooden puppet who magically comes to life, but del Toro made one major, and welcome change to the beloved tale.
In a recent piece from Deadline, del Toro talked about how the script came to be,...
- 12/20/2022
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
What is it about Pinocchio? It’d merely be a funny coincidence if Guillermo del Toro’s dark new take on this classic tale were only the second adaptation in recent memory, after Robert Zemeckis’s Disney version from earlier this year, which starred Tom Hanks as Geppetto. But both were beaten to the punch by Pauly Shore’s that went viral back in March. And that version was relatively fast on the heels of a live-action version from a few years ago directed by Matteo Garrone, an Italian director most famous for his slim,...
- 12/16/2022
- by K. Austin Collins
- Rollingstone.com
This article contains spoilers for "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio."
Even when adapting others' stories, Guillermo del Toro always puts a personal thumbprint on his movies. He remixed Mike Mignola's "Hellboy" as a superhero spin on Beauty and the Beast, reframing the relationship between the eponymous hero (Ron Perlman) and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) as a love story. In his 2021 remake of "Nightmare Alley," he eschewed the ghostly black-and-white color scheme of the original film. Courtesy of cinematographer Dan Laustsen, del Toro's film mixed lurid, snowy blues with golden yellow hues; the blood really pops in both colors.
The filmmaker's most recent feature, the stop-motion "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio" was released on Netflix, to critical acclaim. The tale of the wooden boy is a classic that's been retold many times, but del Toro found a fresh way to spin the story and make it feel a piece with his films...
Even when adapting others' stories, Guillermo del Toro always puts a personal thumbprint on his movies. He remixed Mike Mignola's "Hellboy" as a superhero spin on Beauty and the Beast, reframing the relationship between the eponymous hero (Ron Perlman) and Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) as a love story. In his 2021 remake of "Nightmare Alley," he eschewed the ghostly black-and-white color scheme of the original film. Courtesy of cinematographer Dan Laustsen, del Toro's film mixed lurid, snowy blues with golden yellow hues; the blood really pops in both colors.
The filmmaker's most recent feature, the stop-motion "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio" was released on Netflix, to critical acclaim. The tale of the wooden boy is a classic that's been retold many times, but del Toro found a fresh way to spin the story and make it feel a piece with his films...
- 12/13/2022
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Prominent Italian producer Lorenzo Mieli has shepherded standout TV series such as “The Young Pope” and “My Brilliant Friend” as well as bringing Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All” to the big screen. Now he is taking his production company The Apartment to the next level by broadening its international scope.
While continuing to work with Italy’s top directors, including Guadagnino, Paolo Sorrentino, and Stefano Sollima, Mieli’s Fremantle-owned outfit is ramping up a high-caliber slate of film and TV projects, which have been announced, involving the likes of Sofia Coppola, Angelina Jolie, Pablo Larrain, Joe Wright, Florian Zeller, and “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight.
Mieli, who is based in Rome, has secured Knight to work on two projects, both in pre-production: the Apple TV original series “Ferrari,” which is the biggest skein ever to be produced and shot in Italy, and Pablo Larrain’s biopic of iconic...
While continuing to work with Italy’s top directors, including Guadagnino, Paolo Sorrentino, and Stefano Sollima, Mieli’s Fremantle-owned outfit is ramping up a high-caliber slate of film and TV projects, which have been announced, involving the likes of Sofia Coppola, Angelina Jolie, Pablo Larrain, Joe Wright, Florian Zeller, and “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight.
Mieli, who is based in Rome, has secured Knight to work on two projects, both in pre-production: the Apple TV original series “Ferrari,” which is the biggest skein ever to be produced and shot in Italy, and Pablo Larrain’s biopic of iconic...
- 11/28/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Belgian filmmaker Lukas Dhont’s Close, Danish director Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider and Swedish director Ruben Ôstlund’s Triangle Of Sadness lead the nominations for the 35th European Film Awards, which were unveiled today.
The films have each made it into four categories including best European Film, Best Director and Screenwriter.
All three films debuted at Cannes this year, where Triangle Of Sadness clinched the Palme d’Or; Close, the Grand Prize (in ex-aequo with Claire Denis’s Stars At Noon); and Holy Spider, best actress for Zar Amir-Ebrahimi.
Close and Holy Spider are also the entries for their respective countries of Belgium and Denmark in the Academy Awards Best International Film category this year.
Further hot contenders include Austrian director Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage, with three nominations, including best actress for Vicky Krieps, and Berlinale Berlinale Golden Lion Alcarràs with two nominations. Venice 2022 Grand Jury and best first...
The films have each made it into four categories including best European Film, Best Director and Screenwriter.
All three films debuted at Cannes this year, where Triangle Of Sadness clinched the Palme d’Or; Close, the Grand Prize (in ex-aequo with Claire Denis’s Stars At Noon); and Holy Spider, best actress for Zar Amir-Ebrahimi.
Close and Holy Spider are also the entries for their respective countries of Belgium and Denmark in the Academy Awards Best International Film category this year.
Further hot contenders include Austrian director Marie Kreutzer’s Corsage, with three nominations, including best actress for Vicky Krieps, and Berlinale Berlinale Golden Lion Alcarràs with two nominations. Venice 2022 Grand Jury and best first...
- 11/8/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
This story about the best international film schools first appeared in the College Issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine.
Australian Film, Television And Radio School
Sydney, Australia
“Aftrs was perfect because it was…practical,” says songwriter Christine Kirkwood, who graduated from Australia’s national screen and broadcast school after a six-month government program to train women in filmmaking. Her fellow alums include Gillian Armstrong and Phillip Noyce, who were in the school’s first graduating class in 1973, as well as Jane Campion, Cate Shortland and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie. Located near the Fox Studios in Sydney, the campus includes studios, post-production facilities and an extensive library.
Aftrs has a robust First Nations and Outreach program for indigenous students, and in early 2023 a new partnership with Industrial Light & Magic will allow the school to begin offering a two-semester Graduate Diploma in Visual Effects program. Other new offerings include a Screen Warriors program that will recruit,...
Australian Film, Television And Radio School
Sydney, Australia
“Aftrs was perfect because it was…practical,” says songwriter Christine Kirkwood, who graduated from Australia’s national screen and broadcast school after a six-month government program to train women in filmmaking. Her fellow alums include Gillian Armstrong and Phillip Noyce, who were in the school’s first graduating class in 1973, as well as Jane Campion, Cate Shortland and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie. Located near the Fox Studios in Sydney, the campus includes studios, post-production facilities and an extensive library.
Aftrs has a robust First Nations and Outreach program for indigenous students, and in early 2023 a new partnership with Industrial Light & Magic will allow the school to begin offering a two-semester Graduate Diploma in Visual Effects program. Other new offerings include a Screen Warriors program that will recruit,...
- 11/2/2022
- by TheWrap Staff
- The Wrap
Click here to read the full article.
Visitors to the Rome Film Festival and Mia Market last month couldn’t have avoided them. They were everywhere in the eternal city: bright red billboards celebrating Cinecittà, the city’s legendary film studio. They weren’t promoting any new film or TV series shooting at the fame backlot. Instead the ads were part of a campaign, call it Cinecittà reboot, intended to return the Italian studio to its place atop the world stage.
Things have been quiet for a while around Cinecittà. Now the studio that write the history of international cinema with such productions as Ben-Hur, Cleopatra, Once Upon a Time In America and Gangs of New York, is looking to take back its place atop the world’s stage.
The new push comes amid a shakeup in the Italian film and TV industry, a market revolution in which Cinecittà intends to be a driving force.
Visitors to the Rome Film Festival and Mia Market last month couldn’t have avoided them. They were everywhere in the eternal city: bright red billboards celebrating Cinecittà, the city’s legendary film studio. They weren’t promoting any new film or TV series shooting at the fame backlot. Instead the ads were part of a campaign, call it Cinecittà reboot, intended to return the Italian studio to its place atop the world stage.
Things have been quiet for a while around Cinecittà. Now the studio that write the history of international cinema with such productions as Ben-Hur, Cleopatra, Once Upon a Time In America and Gangs of New York, is looking to take back its place atop the world’s stage.
The new push comes amid a shakeup in the Italian film and TV industry, a market revolution in which Cinecittà intends to be a driving force.
- 11/1/2022
- by Gianmaria Tammaro
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Citing 19th Century patriotic poetry and Mussolini-era writers and philosophers, the freshly appointed culture minister of Italy’s new right-wing government has promised a new era for the country’s cultural sector and revealed he wants to reform state funding for the performances arts.
Gennaro Sangiuliano is among 24 ministers in the new government of Giorgia Meloni, who was sworn in as Italian prime minister on Sunday, three-and-a-half weeks after her far-right Brothers of Italy party (Fratelli d’Italia) swept to victory in general elections.
Sangiuliano arrives from state broadcaster Rai, where he worked since 2003, rising through the ranks to become editor-in-chief of news programming at Italian state channel Rai 2 in 2018.
He replaces Dario Franceschini of the centre-left Democratic Party, who was Italy’s longest-serving minister of culture, and the TV and film worlds are now waiting to see what this means for the sectors.
The new minister told Rome...
Gennaro Sangiuliano is among 24 ministers in the new government of Giorgia Meloni, who was sworn in as Italian prime minister on Sunday, three-and-a-half weeks after her far-right Brothers of Italy party (Fratelli d’Italia) swept to victory in general elections.
Sangiuliano arrives from state broadcaster Rai, where he worked since 2003, rising through the ranks to become editor-in-chief of news programming at Italian state channel Rai 2 in 2018.
He replaces Dario Franceschini of the centre-left Democratic Party, who was Italy’s longest-serving minister of culture, and the TV and film worlds are now waiting to see what this means for the sectors.
The new minister told Rome...
- 10/25/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Wright will direct all eight episodes.
Joe Wright is set to direct M. Son Of The Century, a new Sky Original eight-part series about the rise to power of Benito Mussolini.
The project is based on Antonio Scurati’s book, and will star Luca Marinelli, a Venice best actor winner for Martin Eden, as Mussolini.
Wright will direct all eight episodes. Filming is set to begin at Italy’s Cinecittà Studios over the next few weeks.
The project is produced by Sky Studios and Lorenzo Mieli for Fremantle’s The Apartment Pictures, in collaboration with Pathé. It is written by Stefano Bises and Davide Serino.
Joe Wright is set to direct M. Son Of The Century, a new Sky Original eight-part series about the rise to power of Benito Mussolini.
The project is based on Antonio Scurati’s book, and will star Luca Marinelli, a Venice best actor winner for Martin Eden, as Mussolini.
Wright will direct all eight episodes. Filming is set to begin at Italy’s Cinecittà Studios over the next few weeks.
The project is produced by Sky Studios and Lorenzo Mieli for Fremantle’s The Apartment Pictures, in collaboration with Pathé. It is written by Stefano Bises and Davide Serino.
- 10/19/2022
- by Orlando Parfitt
- ScreenDaily
BAFTA-winning director Joe Wright (Darkest Hour, Atonement, Cyrano) is set to direct M. Son of the Century, the new Sky Original series based on the Premio Strega-winning and international bestselling book by Antonio Scurati, which chronicles the birth of fascism in Italy and the Duce Benito Mussolini’s rise to power.
The eight-part series will cover the period from the founding of Fasci Italiani in 1919 through to Mussolini’s infamous speech in parliament following the murder of socialist MP Giacomo Matteotti in 1925. The series will also provide viewers with an insight into Mussolini and his personal relationships, including with his wife Rachele, his lover Margherita Sarfatti, and with other iconic figures from the time. Like the novel, the series will tell the history of a country that surrendered to dictatorship and the story of a man who was able to rise from his ashes time and again.
Luca Marinelli will...
The eight-part series will cover the period from the founding of Fasci Italiani in 1919 through to Mussolini’s infamous speech in parliament following the murder of socialist MP Giacomo Matteotti in 1925. The series will also provide viewers with an insight into Mussolini and his personal relationships, including with his wife Rachele, his lover Margherita Sarfatti, and with other iconic figures from the time. Like the novel, the series will tell the history of a country that surrendered to dictatorship and the story of a man who was able to rise from his ashes time and again.
Luca Marinelli will...
- 10/19/2022
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Luca Marinelli has been cast as Benito Mussolini in Joe Wright’s upcoming biopic series for Sky.
Variety revealed last month that Wright, who recently finished promoting his feature film “Cyrano,” was set to direct the series chronicling Mussolini’s rise to power against a backdrop of fascism and World War II.
Wright also helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour,” which saw Gary Oldman nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of the former British prime minister.
“M. Son of the Century” is based on Antonio Scurati’s book and is set to go into production at Cinecittà Studios in Italy over the next few weeks. Wright will direct all eight episodes.
Marinelli is an award-winning actor who’s been feted at festivals including Venice and Berlin. He has appeared in “The Old Guard” alongside Charlize Theron and is also known for his roles in “Martin Eden” and “They Call Me Jeeg.
Variety revealed last month that Wright, who recently finished promoting his feature film “Cyrano,” was set to direct the series chronicling Mussolini’s rise to power against a backdrop of fascism and World War II.
Wright also helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour,” which saw Gary Oldman nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of the former British prime minister.
“M. Son of the Century” is based on Antonio Scurati’s book and is set to go into production at Cinecittà Studios in Italy over the next few weeks. Wright will direct all eight episodes.
Marinelli is an award-winning actor who’s been feted at festivals including Venice and Berlin. He has appeared in “The Old Guard” alongside Charlize Theron and is also known for his roles in “Martin Eden” and “They Call Me Jeeg.
- 10/18/2022
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Luca Marinelli to Play Mussolini in Joe Wright’s Historic Series ‘M. Son of the Century’ (Exclusive)
Click here to read the full article.
Italian star Luca Marinelli (The Old Guard, Eight Mountains, Martin Eden) has signed on to play Benito Mussolini in M. Son of the Century, the new eight-part series from Atonement director Joe Wright, which traces the rise to power of the fascist leader.
The series, commissioned as a Sky Original, is based on Antonio Scurati’s bestselling novel. The series will cover the time period from the founding of Italian fascist party in 1919 through to 1925, just before Mussolini seized power in Italy, when he gave his infamous speech in parliament following the murder of socialist MP Giacomo Matteotti. Like the novel, the series aims to tell the history of a country that surrendered to dictatorship and the story of a man who was able to rise from the ashes time and time again.
Marinelli, who has just wrapped filming on the sequel to Netflix’s The Old Guard,...
Italian star Luca Marinelli (The Old Guard, Eight Mountains, Martin Eden) has signed on to play Benito Mussolini in M. Son of the Century, the new eight-part series from Atonement director Joe Wright, which traces the rise to power of the fascist leader.
The series, commissioned as a Sky Original, is based on Antonio Scurati’s bestselling novel. The series will cover the time period from the founding of Italian fascist party in 1919 through to 1925, just before Mussolini seized power in Italy, when he gave his infamous speech in parliament following the murder of socialist MP Giacomo Matteotti. Like the novel, the series aims to tell the history of a country that surrendered to dictatorship and the story of a man who was able to rise from the ashes time and time again.
Marinelli, who has just wrapped filming on the sequel to Netflix’s The Old Guard,...
- 10/18/2022
- by Gianmaria Tammaro
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The historic Barberini Cinema in Rome reopens its doors to the public this Thursday for the first time in two-and-a-half years after an ambitious multi-million-euro refurbishment.
Situated in the former carriage house and stables of the 17th Century Barberini Palace, the theatre was built in 1930 by architect and construction firm owner Angelo Giuseppe Rossellini, the father of iconic neo-realist director Roberto Rossellini.
Local cinema folklore recounts that Rossellini Sr. gave his son free entry to the venue, cementing the Rome, Open City director’s love of the moving image from an early age.
Siblings Caterina, Francesca and Alessandro Saviotti, whose family has owned the cinema since the 1950s, have spearheaded the renovation of the six-theatre venue.
They have kitted it out with state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos and 4K Barco technology; distinct green, yellow and orange designer furnishings, a soon-to-be-opened bar and restaurant with a view of Piazza Barberini and Via Veneto,...
Situated in the former carriage house and stables of the 17th Century Barberini Palace, the theatre was built in 1930 by architect and construction firm owner Angelo Giuseppe Rossellini, the father of iconic neo-realist director Roberto Rossellini.
Local cinema folklore recounts that Rossellini Sr. gave his son free entry to the venue, cementing the Rome, Open City director’s love of the moving image from an early age.
Siblings Caterina, Francesca and Alessandro Saviotti, whose family has owned the cinema since the 1950s, have spearheaded the renovation of the six-theatre venue.
They have kitted it out with state-of-the-art Dolby Atmos and 4K Barco technology; distinct green, yellow and orange designer furnishings, a soon-to-be-opened bar and restaurant with a view of Piazza Barberini and Via Veneto,...
- 10/18/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
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