Action thriller Sugar Bandits will star Will Smith, while Sicario: Day Of The Soldado filmmaker Stefano Sollima will direct.
Will Smith is mere weeks away from appearing in Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, the latest chapter in an action-thriller series that has been going for almost 30 years.
Meanwhile, Smith has another action-y movie in the works. Called Sugar Bandits, it’s said to be a “big-budget action-thriller” written by Chuck Hogan, who previously wrote The Strain with Guillermo Del Toro and 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers Of Benghazi, directed by Michael Bay.
According to Deadline, which first reported on the project, Sugar Bandits will have Smith play “a former special forces soldier who runs an elite vigilante squad working to wipe out the drug trade in Boston.”
It’ll be directed by Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima, who has form when it comes to directing violent crime thrillers: his previous work...
Will Smith is mere weeks away from appearing in Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, the latest chapter in an action-thriller series that has been going for almost 30 years.
Meanwhile, Smith has another action-y movie in the works. Called Sugar Bandits, it’s said to be a “big-budget action-thriller” written by Chuck Hogan, who previously wrote The Strain with Guillermo Del Toro and 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers Of Benghazi, directed by Michael Bay.
According to Deadline, which first reported on the project, Sugar Bandits will have Smith play “a former special forces soldier who runs an elite vigilante squad working to wipe out the drug trade in Boston.”
It’ll be directed by Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima, who has form when it comes to directing violent crime thrillers: his previous work...
- 5/13/2024
- by Ryan Lambie
- Film Stories
In the world of Italian cinema, one name has been making waves in recent years – Alessandro Borghi. Born on September 19, 1986, in Rome, Italy, Borghi has emerged as a talented and versatile actor, captivating audiences with his powerful performances. With a height of 1.86 meters (6 ft 1 in) and a charismatic presence, Borghi has become a rising star in the Italian film industry. In this article, we will delve into Borghi’s journey, exploring his filmography, accolades, and the impact he has made on the silver screen.
Growing up in the vibrant city of Rome, Alessandro Borghi developed a passion for acting from a young age. After completing his education, he embarked on his professional acting journey in 2006, with his debut film “Cento giorni a Palermo.” Although his role was small, it marked the beginning of a promising career.
Borghi’s breakthrough came in 2015 when he starred in the critically acclaimed film “Suburra,...
Growing up in the vibrant city of Rome, Alessandro Borghi developed a passion for acting from a young age. After completing his education, he embarked on his professional acting journey in 2006, with his debut film “Cento giorni a Palermo.” Although his role was small, it marked the beginning of a promising career.
Borghi’s breakthrough came in 2015 when he starred in the critically acclaimed film “Suburra,...
- 3/5/2024
- by Molly Se-kyung
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
“Very beautiful and very challenging.” Those are the first two words that director Stefano Sollima uses to describe his upcoming, four-part Netflix crime series Il Mostro, which has just finished filming. Created by Leonardo Fasoli and Sollima (who also co-produced with Lorenzo Mieli), and produced by The Apartment — a Fremantle company — and AlterEgo Productions, this is a series that has faced titanic challenges. Sollima is no stranger to the crime genre, having directed the so-called Romanzo Criminale (criminal Rome trilogy) — Acab (All Cops Are Bastards), Suburra and Adagio — as well as Soldado the 2018 sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario, and Senza Rimorso (Without Remorse), the 2021 thriller co-written by Taylor Sheridan and based on the book by Tom Clancy. This is all in addition to being the showrunner on the seminal Italian crime series Gomorra and ZeroZeroZero, his ambitious series based on Roberto Saviano’s book about the international drug trade.
- 2/28/2024
- by Boris Sollazzo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
European giant Beta Film, known for ambitious titles such as “Babylon Berlin” and “The Swarm,” has shared with Variety in exclusivity a first-look picture of 1o-part series “Rise of the Raven,” which it hails as “one of the most epic European TV productions of all time.”
“Rise of the Raven” weighs in as a passion project of Hungarian-born and Canada-based producer Robert Lantos, behind “Sunshine,” “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Barney’s Version,” “Eastern Promises” and “Crimes of the Future.”
A highlight at Beta Film’s showcase this Tuesday at the London TV Screenings, “Rise of the Raven” turns on the extraordinary feat of Hungarian army commander Janos Hunyadi, played by discovery Gellért L. Kádár, who in 1456 won a bloody, brutal Battle of Belgrade against a vast Ottoman force twice the size of his troops who were often farm labourers armed with just slings and patriotic fervor.
Hunyadi largely halted a full Ottoman...
“Rise of the Raven” weighs in as a passion project of Hungarian-born and Canada-based producer Robert Lantos, behind “Sunshine,” “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Barney’s Version,” “Eastern Promises” and “Crimes of the Future.”
A highlight at Beta Film’s showcase this Tuesday at the London TV Screenings, “Rise of the Raven” turns on the extraordinary feat of Hungarian army commander Janos Hunyadi, played by discovery Gellért L. Kádár, who in 1456 won a bloody, brutal Battle of Belgrade against a vast Ottoman force twice the size of his troops who were often farm labourers armed with just slings and patriotic fervor.
Hunyadi largely halted a full Ottoman...
- 2/27/2024
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has dropped its first key art and several new images for Supersex, the hotly anticipated biographical series on Italian porn star Rocco Siffredi.
Alessandro Borghi, star of Netflix’s mafia drama series Suburra and 2022 Cannes jury prize winner The Eight Mountains, plays Rocco in the fictionalized take on the porn actor’s life. The seven-episode series — created and written by Francesca Manieri, Lorenzo Mieli for Fremantle-owned The Apartment and Matteo Rovere for Banijay’s Groenlandia — will bow on Netflix worldwide March 6, 2024. Rovere, Francesco Carrozzini and Francesca Mazzoleni are directing.
Netflix has said the series is “freely inspired” by Siffredi’s life and career, as well as from direct testimony from Siffredi. Supersex plans to tell the soup-to-nuts story of Rocco from his childhood and family origins through his “relationship with love” that led him to pursue a career in porn.
Jasmine Trinca plays Lucia, a fictional female character who...
Alessandro Borghi, star of Netflix’s mafia drama series Suburra and 2022 Cannes jury prize winner The Eight Mountains, plays Rocco in the fictionalized take on the porn actor’s life. The seven-episode series — created and written by Francesca Manieri, Lorenzo Mieli for Fremantle-owned The Apartment and Matteo Rovere for Banijay’s Groenlandia — will bow on Netflix worldwide March 6, 2024. Rovere, Francesco Carrozzini and Francesca Mazzoleni are directing.
Netflix has said the series is “freely inspired” by Siffredi’s life and career, as well as from direct testimony from Siffredi. Supersex plans to tell the soup-to-nuts story of Rocco from his childhood and family origins through his “relationship with love” that led him to pursue a career in porn.
Jasmine Trinca plays Lucia, a fictional female character who...
- 12/15/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In the realm of Italian mafia dramas, Gomorrah, The Boss of the Bosses, and Romanzo Criminale are worthy of note, but among all, The Godfather Trilogy stands out as a timeless masterpiece. Although not even close to The Godfather in terms of execution or writing, a similarly woven tale of Italian gang warfare and power battles among the clans in a tumultuous Rome is the famous Italian series Suburra. Suburra is a famous crime franchise first released in 2015 as a film and subsequently developed into a 2017 series of the same name. From 2017 to 2020, Suburra: Blood on Rome became a popular thriller that has recently been rebooted into a Netflix series named Suburraeterna. As we haven’t watched any of these prequels to this Netflix thriller, we can only review the recently released eight-part series, which is the continuation as well as a spinoff of the 2017 franchise.
Watching the entire eight-part...
Watching the entire eight-part...
- 11/15/2023
- by Poulami Nanda
- Film Fugitives
Italian genre stylist Stefano Sollima returns to his homeland to complete his thematic “Roman Trilogy” that began with his debut Acab - All Cops Are Bastards ( 2012) and continued in Suburra (2015) with the muscular and kinetic crime drama Adagio. Heavyweights Pierfrancesco Favino (The Traitor) and Tony Servillo (The Great Beauty) lead a robust cast in a timeless tale of corrupt cops and honourable crooks, set against a backdrop of political upheaval and natural disaster. The action follows Manuel (Gianmarco Franchini), a young man who lives with his elderly father, Daytona (Servillo), who is steadily losing his grasp on reality. Manuel is being manipulated by a gang of shady cops to go undercover at a secret hedonistic nightclub and take compromising photographs of...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/8/2023
- Screen Anarchy
Italian genre specialist Stefano Sollima – who is known in Hollywood for “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” “Without Remorse” and the TV series “Gomorrah” – is in the Venice competition for the first time with Rome-set crime drama “Adagio.”
This beautifully shot picture features an ensemble cast of Italian A-listers comprising Pierfrancesco Favino (“Nostalgia”), Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”), Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers”) and Adriano Giannini (“The Ties”). It’s the tale of three old – and once mighty – mobsters searching for redemption in a cutthroat contemporary Rome that is literally burning. They find it in the form of a 16 year old named Manuel who is being blackmailed after venturing too deep in a rotting Roman underworld world that he doesn’t understand.
You often work from books such as “Gomorrah” but this is your original idea. How did it germinate?
“Adagio” – this is no secret – is a gift that I made to myself.
This beautifully shot picture features an ensemble cast of Italian A-listers comprising Pierfrancesco Favino (“Nostalgia”), Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”), Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers”) and Adriano Giannini (“The Ties”). It’s the tale of three old – and once mighty – mobsters searching for redemption in a cutthroat contemporary Rome that is literally burning. They find it in the form of a 16 year old named Manuel who is being blackmailed after venturing too deep in a rotting Roman underworld world that he doesn’t understand.
You often work from books such as “Gomorrah” but this is your original idea. How did it germinate?
“Adagio” – this is no secret – is a gift that I made to myself.
- 9/7/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Night time in Rome. Wildfires rage on the horizon of the vast city. A blackout strikes, and block by block, the urban landscape is plunged suddenly into darkness, illuminated only by traffic and the roaring blaze in the distance. When a city’s infrastructure fails, it feels like the visible, outward sign of dysfunction or rot. What better way to plunge the audience into “Adagio,” Stefano Sollima’s crime drama dealing with cynicism and corruption, and the repercussions of past actions, as they echo through the generations? Premiering in Competition at Venice, this is a solidly assembled yarn about the on-the-ground consequences of a moral breakdown at the heart of the state, about fiddling the books while Rome burns.
The notional protagonist is 16-year old Manuel (newcomer Gianmarco Franchini), in over his head in a world he doesn’t understand. But he’s a protagonist almost entirely moved and motivated...
The notional protagonist is 16-year old Manuel (newcomer Gianmarco Franchini), in over his head in a world he doesn’t understand. But he’s a protagonist almost entirely moved and motivated...
- 9/2/2023
- by Catherine Bray
- Variety Film + TV
The Hollywood Reporter Roma, the entertainment media brand’s first European edition, was launched in a majestic mansion in Rome on Thursday night.
The starry party at Palazzo Brancaccio attracted 1,000 buzzy Italian well-wishers that included Cinecittà CEO Nicola Maccanico; local Netflix content exec Tinny Andreatta; Piera Detassis, president of the Italian Academy of Cinema; Alessandro Michele, who recently exited his role as creative director of Gucci; and Italian actress Ornella Muti.
The gilded indoor-outdoor setting in Rome had the feel of a scene out of Federico Fellini’s Italian classic La Dolce Vita. Also walking the red carpet were Suburra star Alessandro Borghi, The White Lotus actress Beatrice Grannò and Isabella Ferrari of The Great Beauty.
Inside, Nekesa Mumbi Moody, The Hollywood Reporter’s editorial director, and Elisabeth Rabishaw, co-publisher and executive vice president of THR, congratulated THR Roma on its debut.
“This is only the beginning,” said Moody, who...
The starry party at Palazzo Brancaccio attracted 1,000 buzzy Italian well-wishers that included Cinecittà CEO Nicola Maccanico; local Netflix content exec Tinny Andreatta; Piera Detassis, president of the Italian Academy of Cinema; Alessandro Michele, who recently exited his role as creative director of Gucci; and Italian actress Ornella Muti.
The gilded indoor-outdoor setting in Rome had the feel of a scene out of Federico Fellini’s Italian classic La Dolce Vita. Also walking the red carpet were Suburra star Alessandro Borghi, The White Lotus actress Beatrice Grannò and Isabella Ferrari of The Great Beauty.
Inside, Nekesa Mumbi Moody, The Hollywood Reporter’s editorial director, and Elisabeth Rabishaw, co-publisher and executive vice president of THR, congratulated THR Roma on its debut.
“This is only the beginning,” said Moody, who...
- 4/21/2023
- by Gianmaria Tammaro
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Italian director Stefano Sollima, who is known in Hollywood for “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” “Without Remorse” and TV show “Gomorrah,” is back behind camera on a contemporary Rome-set crimer titled “Adagio.”
Shooting started Sept. 5 on “Adagio” which features an ensemble cast of Italian A-listers comprising Pierfrancesco Favino (“Nostalgia”), Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”), Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers”) and Adriano Giannini (“The Ties”).
“I am eager and full of enthusiasm about finally returning to depict my city after all these years. Rome has changed, and so have I,” Sollima said in a statement for Variety. He went on to describe “Adagio” as a dark story of revenge and redemption, which will be the last chapter of my Roman criminal trilogy.”
The previous two installments in this trilogy are “A.C.A.B: All Cops Are Bastards,” from 2012, and “Suburra,” from 2015, which was subsequently spun out into a Netflix TV series.
The “Adagio” story...
Shooting started Sept. 5 on “Adagio” which features an ensemble cast of Italian A-listers comprising Pierfrancesco Favino (“Nostalgia”), Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”), Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers”) and Adriano Giannini (“The Ties”).
“I am eager and full of enthusiasm about finally returning to depict my city after all these years. Rome has changed, and so have I,” Sollima said in a statement for Variety. He went on to describe “Adagio” as a dark story of revenge and redemption, which will be the last chapter of my Roman criminal trilogy.”
The previous two installments in this trilogy are “A.C.A.B: All Cops Are Bastards,” from 2012, and “Suburra,” from 2015, which was subsequently spun out into a Netflix TV series.
The “Adagio” story...
- 9/7/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Principal photography is underway near Budapest on “Rise of the Raven,” an epic drama series produced by veteran Canadian producer Robert Lantos’ Serendipity Point Films (“Crimes of the Future”) and Beta Film (“Gomorrah”) that marks the most lavish TV production in Hungary’s history.
Adapted from author Bán Mór’s bestselling novels, the 10-episode series tells the story of the Hungarian warrior Janos Hunyadi, who defeated the Ottoman army in 1456 at the Battle of Belgrade, halting its march across Europe.
Lantos, whose producing credits include “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Eastern Promises,” spoke exclusively with Variety about a passion project more than a decade in the making. He was joined by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director Robert Dornhelm and Hungarian directors Attila Szász and Orsi Nagypal, who joined the conversation fresh off shooting an epic battle sequence outside Budapest.
The Hungarian-born Lantos, who was in Cannes this year with David Cronenberg...
Adapted from author Bán Mór’s bestselling novels, the 10-episode series tells the story of the Hungarian warrior Janos Hunyadi, who defeated the Ottoman army in 1456 at the Battle of Belgrade, halting its march across Europe.
Lantos, whose producing credits include “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Eastern Promises,” spoke exclusively with Variety about a passion project more than a decade in the making. He was joined by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director Robert Dornhelm and Hungarian directors Attila Szász and Orsi Nagypal, who joined the conversation fresh off shooting an epic battle sequence outside Budapest.
The Hungarian-born Lantos, who was in Cannes this year with David Cronenberg...
- 8/9/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Patrick Dempsey (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and Italian actor Alessandro Borghi (“Suburra”), who co-star in the anticipated financial-world thriller series “Devils,” said the show pulled them into uncharted territories.
A sign that the TV drama business is becoming increasingly global, “Devils” marks the first truly international drama for both actors. Although it shot in English, “Devils” was made by Lux Vide, the producer of “Medici: Masters of Florence” for Sky Italia (“The Young Pope”), and it brings together characters who come from different parts of the world.
Based on the best-selling novel by Italian trader Guido Maria Brera, the show takes place in the London office of a major U.S. bank and is set against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis. The plot revolves around the relationship between the ruthless head of trading, Massimo Ruggero (Borghi) who comes from Italy, and his mentor Dominic Morgan (Dempsey), who is the bank’s CEO.
A sign that the TV drama business is becoming increasingly global, “Devils” marks the first truly international drama for both actors. Although it shot in English, “Devils” was made by Lux Vide, the producer of “Medici: Masters of Florence” for Sky Italia (“The Young Pope”), and it brings together characters who come from different parts of the world.
Based on the best-selling novel by Italian trader Guido Maria Brera, the show takes place in the London office of a major U.S. bank and is set against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis. The plot revolves around the relationship between the ruthless head of trading, Massimo Ruggero (Borghi) who comes from Italy, and his mentor Dominic Morgan (Dempsey), who is the bank’s CEO.
- 10/14/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Comcast-owned Sky Studios and Italy’s Lux Vide launched financial thriller “Devils” on Monday at Mipcom in Cannes, where NBCUniversal Global Distribution has already closed sales deals with several undisclosed territories.
“Devils” reconstructs the dynamics that prompted the debt crisis that threatened to unravel the many European countries that use the euro as their currency. The show delves into the world of financial traders in London, Frankfurt and Milan, based on a book that will soon be out in English by Italian trader Guido Brera, who worked for Morgan Stanley in London.
The 10-episode skein starring Patrick Dempsey (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and Alessandro Borghi (“Suburra”) is directed by Nick Hurran (“Altered Carbon“) and Jan Michelini (“Medici“) and produced by Sky and Lux Vide, in association with France’s Orange Studio.
The €25 million ($27.5 million) series is the first project that the Sky entity then known as Sky Vision, headed by Gary Davey,...
“Devils” reconstructs the dynamics that prompted the debt crisis that threatened to unravel the many European countries that use the euro as their currency. The show delves into the world of financial traders in London, Frankfurt and Milan, based on a book that will soon be out in English by Italian trader Guido Brera, who worked for Morgan Stanley in London.
The 10-episode skein starring Patrick Dempsey (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and Alessandro Borghi (“Suburra”) is directed by Nick Hurran (“Altered Carbon“) and Jan Michelini (“Medici“) and produced by Sky and Lux Vide, in association with France’s Orange Studio.
The €25 million ($27.5 million) series is the first project that the Sky entity then known as Sky Vision, headed by Gary Davey,...
- 10/14/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
A high-end TV series that will delve into the 2017 assassination of Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia is being developed by New York’s Topic Studios in partnership with U.S. incubator Vespucci Group and Italy’s Indiana Production.
Prominent Israeli film and TV writer Noah Stollman is on board to pen the screenplay, giving the project strong cachet.
The as yet untitled series is based on the book “Murder on the Malta Express” co-authored by British investigative journalist John Sweeney with Italy’s Carlo Bonini (“Suburra”) and Maltese journalist-blogger Manuel Delia.
“Through Manuel, John, and Carlo we have unprecedented access to an extremely timely story set against the backdrop of the global threat on journalism,” producer Daniel Turcan (“Marjorie Prime”) co-founder of Vespucci Group said in a joint statement.
The book investigating who killed Daphne Caruana Galizia published by Maltese imprint Midsea Books will be released on Sunday, October...
Prominent Israeli film and TV writer Noah Stollman is on board to pen the screenplay, giving the project strong cachet.
The as yet untitled series is based on the book “Murder on the Malta Express” co-authored by British investigative journalist John Sweeney with Italy’s Carlo Bonini (“Suburra”) and Maltese journalist-blogger Manuel Delia.
“Through Manuel, John, and Carlo we have unprecedented access to an extremely timely story set against the backdrop of the global threat on journalism,” producer Daniel Turcan (“Marjorie Prime”) co-founder of Vespucci Group said in a joint statement.
The book investigating who killed Daphne Caruana Galizia published by Maltese imprint Midsea Books will be released on Sunday, October...
- 10/14/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
It’s a pretty safe bet that the Italian entries at Venice that will make the biggest splashes this year are both TV series premiering in the official selection: Paolo Sorrentino’s limited series “The New Pope” and Stefano Sollima’s cocaine-trafficking drama “ZeroZeroZero.”
While these are both shows by directors who also work in film, Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera has no qualms in pointing out that in the film sphere the domestic pickings were slim this year.
Venice selectors received 186 Italian films, which amounts to roughly 10% of the total submissions. “And more than half were unwatchable microbudget first works,” Barbera says. “You wonder: why produce this stuff?”
However, the TV series, both commissioned by Sky Italia and screening out of competition, are on a different level. “They were both a big gamble,” Barbera says. And they cost a lot, “but you really see the results.”
Barbera says everyone...
While these are both shows by directors who also work in film, Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera has no qualms in pointing out that in the film sphere the domestic pickings were slim this year.
Venice selectors received 186 Italian films, which amounts to roughly 10% of the total submissions. “And more than half were unwatchable microbudget first works,” Barbera says. “You wonder: why produce this stuff?”
However, the TV series, both commissioned by Sky Italia and screening out of competition, are on a different level. “They were both a big gamble,” Barbera says. And they cost a lot, “but you really see the results.”
Barbera says everyone...
- 8/27/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Eric Névé, a prominent French producer whose credits include Ziad Doueiri’s Oscar-nominated “The Insult,” has died. Névé, 57, was the founder of the Paris-based production banner La Chauve-Souris and co-founder of the international sales company Indie Sales and its sister outfit Indie Prod. He died Sunday.
Through La Chauve-Souris, which he launched in 1995, Névé produced several popular and daring films from a mix of established and emerging directors, notably Jan Kounen’s “Doberman,” Jean-Paul Salomé’s “Les femmes de l’ombre,” Romain Gavras’ “Notre jour viendra,” Moussa Touré’s “La Pirogue” and Daouda Coulibaly’s “Wùlu.”
Névé was well-known for his contribution to the flourishing of new talents in West Africa, in particular Senegal, through his other production company, Astou Films.
In 2013, Névé launched the banner Indie Sales with former TF1 International executive Nicolas Eschbach. The sales and co-production company boasts a library of about 60 movies, among which are Jean-Pierre Améris’s “Marie Heurtin,...
Through La Chauve-Souris, which he launched in 1995, Névé produced several popular and daring films from a mix of established and emerging directors, notably Jan Kounen’s “Doberman,” Jean-Paul Salomé’s “Les femmes de l’ombre,” Romain Gavras’ “Notre jour viendra,” Moussa Touré’s “La Pirogue” and Daouda Coulibaly’s “Wùlu.”
Névé was well-known for his contribution to the flourishing of new talents in West Africa, in particular Senegal, through his other production company, Astou Films.
In 2013, Névé launched the banner Indie Sales with former TF1 International executive Nicolas Eschbach. The sales and co-production company boasts a library of about 60 movies, among which are Jean-Pierre Améris’s “Marie Heurtin,...
- 7/24/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Producer credits included Dobermann, La Pirogue, Fast Convoy, and Suburra.
French producer Eric Névé, whose varied credits included Jan Kounen’s Dobermann, Cannes Un Certain Regard title La Pirogue, and Italian organised crime thriller Suburra, has died at the age of 57.
Paris-based international sales company Indie Sales, which Névé co-founded with Nicolas Eschbach in 2013, put out a statement on Tuesday (23) announcing the producer’s sudden and unexpected death on July 21.
Having graduated in business finance from France’s Sciences Po and Paris-Dauphine universities, Névé got into cinema working for historic film company Ugc, state broadcaster film arm France 3 Cinéma,...
French producer Eric Névé, whose varied credits included Jan Kounen’s Dobermann, Cannes Un Certain Regard title La Pirogue, and Italian organised crime thriller Suburra, has died at the age of 57.
Paris-based international sales company Indie Sales, which Névé co-founded with Nicolas Eschbach in 2013, put out a statement on Tuesday (23) announcing the producer’s sudden and unexpected death on July 21.
Having graduated in business finance from France’s Sciences Po and Paris-Dauphine universities, Névé got into cinema working for historic film company Ugc, state broadcaster film arm France 3 Cinéma,...
- 7/24/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Indie Sales has announced a slew of major deals on Matteo Rovere’s ambitious Italian epic film “Romulus & Remus: The First King” in the run-up to Cannes, where the movie will have a market screening.
The film is based on the legend of Romulus and Remus, twin brothers and shepherds who lived in peace near the Tiber river and embarked on an incredible journey to found Rome. “Romulus & Remus: The First King” is headlined by Italian star Alessandro Borghi (“Suburra”) and shot in Proto-Italic language, the ancestor of Latin.
The Paris-based sales company has sold the film in North America (WellGo USA), Germany and Austria (Capelight), Spain (Mediaset), Switzerland (Pathé), South Korea (Kth), Poland (Wistech Media), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Cinemart).
“’The First King’ is an intense action epic in the hands of a cinematic auteur that takes the founding of Rome out of legend and grounds it in history,...
The film is based on the legend of Romulus and Remus, twin brothers and shepherds who lived in peace near the Tiber river and embarked on an incredible journey to found Rome. “Romulus & Remus: The First King” is headlined by Italian star Alessandro Borghi (“Suburra”) and shot in Proto-Italic language, the ancestor of Latin.
The Paris-based sales company has sold the film in North America (WellGo USA), Germany and Austria (Capelight), Spain (Mediaset), Switzerland (Pathé), South Korea (Kth), Poland (Wistech Media), Czech Republic and Slovakia (Cinemart).
“’The First King’ is an intense action epic in the hands of a cinematic auteur that takes the founding of Rome out of legend and grounds it in history,...
- 5/13/2019
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
In a key step in its ongoing expansion Leone Film Group in 2014 partnered with young producer Marco Belardi and bought his small but commercially flourishing Lotus Production shingle, which has since become a bigger affair.
Raffaella Leone says while Lfg was being floated on the Milan bourse she knew they “had to guarantee content” to investors beyond titles available in Hollywood and on the international market at large. She also knew it was tough to build a production company from scratch, since “production was not our specific know-how.”
So Raffaella and Andrea zeroed in on Lotus, which in 10 years of activity had forged exclusive relationships with up-and-coming Italian directors such as Paolo Genovese, now known for 2016 megahit “Perfect Strangers.” After a few meetings, Belardi and the Leones struck up “a good personal feeling,” she says. And from there sprung a “fortunate match.”
Belardi recalls he was a bit taken aback...
Raffaella Leone says while Lfg was being floated on the Milan bourse she knew they “had to guarantee content” to investors beyond titles available in Hollywood and on the international market at large. She also knew it was tough to build a production company from scratch, since “production was not our specific know-how.”
So Raffaella and Andrea zeroed in on Lotus, which in 10 years of activity had forged exclusive relationships with up-and-coming Italian directors such as Paolo Genovese, now known for 2016 megahit “Perfect Strangers.” After a few meetings, Belardi and the Leones struck up “a good personal feeling,” she says. And from there sprung a “fortunate match.”
Belardi recalls he was a bit taken aback...
- 5/10/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has announced three new Italian originals, indicating that the streaming giant is ramping up operations in the country as it gets more traction with local subscribers.
The new Italian Netflix originals in the pipeline are: “Curon,” a genre show with supernatural elements, which is set in a Northern Italian village; a series adaptation of hit teen romance movie “Three Steps Over Heaven”; and an adaptation of a bestselling Italian novel titled “Fedeltà,” which translates as “Faithfulness,” and is about a Milanese couple in their 30s.
“Curon,” in which “a mother and her teen kids return to her mysterious hometown village in Northern Italy only to discover what lies below the surface of her past,” according to promotional materials, sees Ezio Abbate serving as head writer. Abbate was a writer on “Suburra,” which was Netflix’s first Italian original. “Curon” will be produced by Indiana Productions and marks the first...
The new Italian Netflix originals in the pipeline are: “Curon,” a genre show with supernatural elements, which is set in a Northern Italian village; a series adaptation of hit teen romance movie “Three Steps Over Heaven”; and an adaptation of a bestselling Italian novel titled “Fedeltà,” which translates as “Faithfulness,” and is about a Milanese couple in their 30s.
“Curon,” in which “a mother and her teen kids return to her mysterious hometown village in Northern Italy only to discover what lies below the surface of her past,” according to promotional materials, sees Ezio Abbate serving as head writer. Abbate was a writer on “Suburra,” which was Netflix’s first Italian original. “Curon” will be produced by Indiana Productions and marks the first...
- 3/29/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Cattleya, the Italian company behind hit series “Gomorrah” and Amazon’s upcoming “ZeroZeroZero,” is making its first foray into the detective genre with “Petra,” featuring a hard-boiled female inspector played by actress Paola Cortellesi.
The four-part Italian-language series is being produced as an original for Sky Italia.
Production has kicked off in Genoa with Italy’s Maria Sole Tognazzi (“A Five Star Life”) directing the adaptation of prominent Spanish writer Alicia Giménez-Bartlett’s book “Death Rites,” a bestseller in Italy and Spain which has also been published in the U.S.
Cattleya and Sky’s TV adaptation of “Petra” transposes the setting to Italy. It sees titular character Petra Delicado, a twice-divorced sleuth chained to a tiresome desk job among sexist colleagues, suddenly thrust onto the front line to solve violent crimes with newly assigned partner Antonio Monte, an old-school cop close to retirement. Her sidekick is played by Andrea Pennacchi,...
The four-part Italian-language series is being produced as an original for Sky Italia.
Production has kicked off in Genoa with Italy’s Maria Sole Tognazzi (“A Five Star Life”) directing the adaptation of prominent Spanish writer Alicia Giménez-Bartlett’s book “Death Rites,” a bestseller in Italy and Spain which has also been published in the U.S.
Cattleya and Sky’s TV adaptation of “Petra” transposes the setting to Italy. It sees titular character Petra Delicado, a twice-divorced sleuth chained to a tiresome desk job among sexist colleagues, suddenly thrust onto the front line to solve violent crimes with newly assigned partner Antonio Monte, an old-school cop close to retirement. Her sidekick is played by Andrea Pennacchi,...
- 3/7/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
2019 is looking buoyant for Italy’s film and longform narrative TV industries, which are becoming increasingly interconnected as a new generation of directors emerges. They are crossing over between the two media while recent legislation pumps millions of Euros into the country’s production and distribution sectors.
Just as high-end TV dramas directed by Italian film auteurs such as Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Young Pope” and Saverio Costanzo’s “My Brilliant Friend” conquer global small-screen audiences, theatrical box-office returns have been plunging, prompting many of Italy’s top film industry players to regroup. Most are making both movies and TV.
Case in point: Palomar, the company behind “Piranhas,” Italy’s Berlin competition entry depicting Neapolitan teen gangsters. The gritty drama is directed by up-and-coming helmer Claudio Giovannesi and based on a novel by star author Roberto Saviano, whose mob exposé “Gomorrah” spawned both a prize-winning movie and a game-changing TV series.
Just as high-end TV dramas directed by Italian film auteurs such as Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Young Pope” and Saverio Costanzo’s “My Brilliant Friend” conquer global small-screen audiences, theatrical box-office returns have been plunging, prompting many of Italy’s top film industry players to regroup. Most are making both movies and TV.
Case in point: Palomar, the company behind “Piranhas,” Italy’s Berlin competition entry depicting Neapolitan teen gangsters. The gritty drama is directed by up-and-coming helmer Claudio Giovannesi and based on a novel by star author Roberto Saviano, whose mob exposé “Gomorrah” spawned both a prize-winning movie and a game-changing TV series.
- 2/8/2019
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
“This is not the festival’s problem.”
The Venice Film Festival (which concludes on September 8) and its director Alberto Barbera have faced fierce criticism in the international press since announcing a Competition line-up featuring just one film directed by a woman.
More negative headlines occured during the festival itself, with an obscure filmmaker revealing a pro-Harvey Weinstein t-shirt on the red carpet, and an insult shouted towards Jennifer Kent during a press screening of The Nightingale.
However, in the Italian industry there is sympathy for the festival, with senior industry figures telling Screen those in charge of financing films in Italy,...
The Venice Film Festival (which concludes on September 8) and its director Alberto Barbera have faced fierce criticism in the international press since announcing a Competition line-up featuring just one film directed by a woman.
More negative headlines occured during the festival itself, with an obscure filmmaker revealing a pro-Harvey Weinstein t-shirt on the red carpet, and an insult shouted towards Jennifer Kent during a press screening of The Nightingale.
However, in the Italian industry there is sympathy for the festival, with senior industry figures telling Screen those in charge of financing films in Italy,...
- 9/8/2018
- by Gabriele Niola
- ScreenDaily
Patrick Dempsey is set to head up an international cast for Sky Italia and Lux Vide’s financial thriller “Devils.” The 10-part series, based on a novel by Guido Maria Brera, is expected to shoot in London and Rome for 24 weeks starting in September. Italian actor Alessandro Borghi also stars.
Set in the London office of a big U.S. bank, “Devils” sees Borghi play the ruthless head of trading from Italy, welcomed and introduced to the world of finance by Dempsey’s bank CEO. When the Italian ends up involved in an intercontinental financial war rocking Europe, he will have to choose whether to ally himself with his mentor or fight him.
Dempsey is best known for his long-running role in ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” for which he received two Golden Globe nominations. Borghi was most recently seen in Netflix’s first Italian-language original series, “Suburra.”
Veteran British...
Set in the London office of a big U.S. bank, “Devils” sees Borghi play the ruthless head of trading from Italy, welcomed and introduced to the world of finance by Dempsey’s bank CEO. When the Italian ends up involved in an intercontinental financial war rocking Europe, he will have to choose whether to ally himself with his mentor or fight him.
Dempsey is best known for his long-running role in ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” for which he received two Golden Globe nominations. Borghi was most recently seen in Netflix’s first Italian-language original series, “Suburra.”
Veteran British...
- 8/14/2018
- by Robert Mitchell
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Grey’s Anatomy icon Patrick Dempsey and in-demand Italian actor Alessandro Borghi, star of Netflix’s Suburra, are to lead cast in hot new financial-world thriller series Devils for The Young Pope and Gomorrah backer Sky Italia and Medici: Masters Of Florence producer Lux Vide.
Based on the best-selling novel by Italian trader Guido Maria Brera, the anticipated ten-part English-language series will be set in the London office of a major U.S. bank, where the ruthless Head of Trading, Massimo Ruggero (Borghi) from Italy, has been welcomed and introduced to the world of finance by Dominic Morgan (Dempsey), the bank’s CEO. When Ruggero ends up involved in an intercontinental financial war rocking Europe, he has to choose whether to ally himself with his mentor or fight him. The book was partly inspired by the financial crisis that swept global markets in 2008.
Among the Euro series’ strong supporting...
Based on the best-selling novel by Italian trader Guido Maria Brera, the anticipated ten-part English-language series will be set in the London office of a major U.S. bank, where the ruthless Head of Trading, Massimo Ruggero (Borghi) from Italy, has been welcomed and introduced to the world of finance by Dominic Morgan (Dempsey), the bank’s CEO. When Ruggero ends up involved in an intercontinental financial war rocking Europe, he has to choose whether to ally himself with his mentor or fight him. The book was partly inspired by the financial crisis that swept global markets in 2008.
Among the Euro series’ strong supporting...
- 8/13/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
ITV will continue to eye acquisitions in the production space with CEO Carolyn McCall telling Deadline that it will be “very disciplined” about future purchases. However, the company has ruled out “significant” acquisitions in the scripted space in the U.S.
McCall’s comments come as the battle to buy Endemol Shine heats up with multiple bidders understood to be eyeing the Big Brother and Black Mirror producer.
McCall told Deadline, “We’ve had a very effective strategy of diversifying away from advertising, not because we don’t like it, but because it’s a cyclical business. We have made a lot of acquisitions and have doubled the size of the [ITV Studios] business in the last five years. We are going to continue to grow organically and that we will look at M&A, although we don’t comment on specific opportunities. We will look at M&A in a...
McCall’s comments come as the battle to buy Endemol Shine heats up with multiple bidders understood to be eyeing the Big Brother and Black Mirror producer.
McCall told Deadline, “We’ve had a very effective strategy of diversifying away from advertising, not because we don’t like it, but because it’s a cyclical business. We have made a lot of acquisitions and have doubled the size of the [ITV Studios] business in the last five years. We are going to continue to grow organically and that we will look at M&A, although we don’t comment on specific opportunities. We will look at M&A in a...
- 7/25/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
British commercial broadcaster ITV has revealed the first details of its “strategic refresh” as the World Cup and reality series Love Island helped revenues grow in the first six months of 2018.
The company posted total external revenue growth of 8% to £1.59B, up from £1.47B in 2017. This was aided by a 16% rise in revenues at ITV Studios, up from £692M in the first six months of last year to £803M as well as total advertising revenue growing 2% and online revenues, particularly via its ITV Hub, growing by 48%. However, Ebitda across the group was down 7% to £375M.
ITV Chief Executive Carolyn McCall outlined that the company will continue to focus on being an integrated producer broadcaster with a strong production business as part of its ‘More than TV’ strategy.
The three areas of focus for ITV’s new strategy, which it stated was “very much a refresh not a reboot”, are strengthening the integrated producer broadcaster,...
The company posted total external revenue growth of 8% to £1.59B, up from £1.47B in 2017. This was aided by a 16% rise in revenues at ITV Studios, up from £692M in the first six months of last year to £803M as well as total advertising revenue growing 2% and online revenues, particularly via its ITV Hub, growing by 48%. However, Ebitda across the group was down 7% to £375M.
ITV Chief Executive Carolyn McCall outlined that the company will continue to focus on being an integrated producer broadcaster with a strong production business as part of its ‘More than TV’ strategy.
The three areas of focus for ITV’s new strategy, which it stated was “very much a refresh not a reboot”, are strengthening the integrated producer broadcaster,...
- 7/25/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Isis is smuggling suicide bombers into the Us in this fierce and riveting sequel that chimes with Trump-era tribulations
With the luck and timing that always go with talent, screenwriter Taylor Sheridan has come up with an uncompromisingly fierce thriller that involves the Us government separating a Mexican father from his child as part of a plan to crack down on illegal border crossings.
He and Italian director Stefano Sollima (known for the 2015 mob drama Suburra) have collaborated on a horribly gripping sequel to Sheridan’s 2015 Mexican cartel picture Sicario (directed by Denis Villeneuve). This delivers a coolly targeted payload of brutality, launched from a cauldron of male aggression and international politics.
With the luck and timing that always go with talent, screenwriter Taylor Sheridan has come up with an uncompromisingly fierce thriller that involves the Us government separating a Mexican father from his child as part of a plan to crack down on illegal border crossings.
He and Italian director Stefano Sollima (known for the 2015 mob drama Suburra) have collaborated on a horribly gripping sequel to Sheridan’s 2015 Mexican cartel picture Sicario (directed by Denis Villeneuve). This delivers a coolly targeted payload of brutality, launched from a cauldron of male aggression and international politics.
- 6/28/2018
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Looking past the regular popular streaming playlists, audiences can find quality television shows to binge made in countries both across the pond and south of the border. Read on to find the best international television shows to watch this summer.
Breathe
“Breathe,” starring R. Madhavan and Amit Sadh, is an Indian thriller that features a cat-and-mouse story as a police detective tries to solve a string of murders of organ donors. His prime suspect is a father desperately seeking a donor to save his dying son.
How to Watch: Amazon Prime
Cable Girls
This Spanish period drama follows four women working in Madrid’s first and only telephone company in 1929 right before the global financial crash. The show showcases the hardships working women faced during the time period and how they overcame them. The series stars Blanca Suárez, Maggie Civantos, Ángela Cremonte, and Nadia de Santiago.
How to Watch: Netflix...
Breathe
“Breathe,” starring R. Madhavan and Amit Sadh, is an Indian thriller that features a cat-and-mouse story as a police detective tries to solve a string of murders of organ donors. His prime suspect is a father desperately seeking a donor to save his dying son.
How to Watch: Amazon Prime
Cable Girls
This Spanish period drama follows four women working in Madrid’s first and only telephone company in 1929 right before the global financial crash. The show showcases the hardships working women faced during the time period and how they overcame them. The series stars Blanca Suárez, Maggie Civantos, Ángela Cremonte, and Nadia de Santiago.
How to Watch: Netflix...
- 6/21/2018
- by Ellis Clopton
- Variety Film + TV
Denis Villeneuve’s lack of involvement in “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” has made fans of the original a bit nervous about what to expect from the follow-up, but the filmmaker is here to assure moviegoers the sequel is a worthy follow-up to his original. The “Sicario” sequel is directed by Stefano Sollima, the Italian director best known for “Suburra” and helming numerous episodes of the series “Gomorrah.” He also served as the drama’s showrunner and executive producer.
Villeneuve first reacted to “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” by telling producers, “[The sequel is] a knockout. Sollima did a masterful follow up to ‘Sicario.’ I was blown away!” When asked for further comment by IndieWire, the “Blade Runner 2049″ director had more praise to share about the film.
“Having seen his film, I’m proud to say that Stefano did an impressive, powerful, masterful follow-up,” Villeneuve told IndieWire. “It’s a hell of a good movie!
Villeneuve first reacted to “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” by telling producers, “[The sequel is] a knockout. Sollima did a masterful follow up to ‘Sicario.’ I was blown away!” When asked for further comment by IndieWire, the “Blade Runner 2049″ director had more praise to share about the film.
“Having seen his film, I’m proud to say that Stefano did an impressive, powerful, masterful follow-up,” Villeneuve told IndieWire. “It’s a hell of a good movie!
- 6/19/2018
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Netflix’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Fox’s The Four helped British commercial broadcaster ITV bolster its revenues for the first three months of the year.
The company revealed that overall revenue across the firm was up 5% to £772M (Us$1B), compared to £734M ($995M) last year. Revenue at production group ITV Studios, which produced the above series, grew 11% to £382M ($518M) to the end of March 2018, with organic revenues up 9%. The latter will particularly please the company, which has seen much of its production growth come from its swathe of acquisitions. This comes after Deadline revealed in April that it was potentially one of the suitors considering an acquisition of Endemol Shine Group.
Online revenue, helped by the steady growth of its on-demand platform ITV Hub, was up 41% and advertising numbers were up 3% in the first quarter with the soccer World Cup this summer expected to...
The company revealed that overall revenue across the firm was up 5% to £772M (Us$1B), compared to £734M ($995M) last year. Revenue at production group ITV Studios, which produced the above series, grew 11% to £382M ($518M) to the end of March 2018, with organic revenues up 9%. The latter will particularly please the company, which has seen much of its production growth come from its swathe of acquisitions. This comes after Deadline revealed in April that it was potentially one of the suitors considering an acquisition of Endemol Shine Group.
Online revenue, helped by the steady growth of its on-demand platform ITV Hub, was up 41% and advertising numbers were up 3% in the first quarter with the soccer World Cup this summer expected to...
- 5/10/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Claes Bang (“The Square”) has joined “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” the neo-noir thriller from Giuseppe Capotondi (“Suburra”).
The Danish actor joins Christopher Walken (“Catch Me if You Can”) and Elizabeth Debicki (“The Night Manager”) in the picture, which HanWay Films will introduce to buyers in Cannes. HanWay has international rights with UTA Independent Film Group managing the U.S. sale.
Based on the Charles Willeford novel, Bang plays James Figueras, a charismatic and fiercely ambitious art critic who is offered a career-changing introduction to reclusive artist Jerome Debney (Walken). In return for the introduction, however, he must steal a masterpiece from the artist’s studio. Set in Italy in the early 1970s, Debicki plays Berenice Hollis, Figueras’ lover.
As Hollis and Figueras start to spend time with the legendary Debney, they start to realise that nothing about the artist and their mission is what it seems. The film is in...
The Danish actor joins Christopher Walken (“Catch Me if You Can”) and Elizabeth Debicki (“The Night Manager”) in the picture, which HanWay Films will introduce to buyers in Cannes. HanWay has international rights with UTA Independent Film Group managing the U.S. sale.
Based on the Charles Willeford novel, Bang plays James Figueras, a charismatic and fiercely ambitious art critic who is offered a career-changing introduction to reclusive artist Jerome Debney (Walken). In return for the introduction, however, he must steal a masterpiece from the artist’s studio. Set in Italy in the early 1970s, Debicki plays Berenice Hollis, Figueras’ lover.
As Hollis and Figueras start to spend time with the legendary Debney, they start to realise that nothing about the artist and their mission is what it seems. The film is in...
- 4/24/2018
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
The global rise of Italian TV series is now in full swing, riding the wake of hits such as “Gomorrah,” “The Young Pope” and “Medici: Masters of Florence.”
A wave of new high-end shows that mine iconic aspects of Italy’s past and present, but also venture into the supernatural and tap into the vibrant reinvention of classic genres — such as spaghetti Westerns and horror that Italian cinema is historically known for — is about to roll out around the world.
But besides shows sparked by the rekindled love affair between long-form narratives and the country’s cinematic past, there is also “Winx Club,” the animated franchise featuring six trendy teenage fairies designed with a style mashing Japanese manga and classic Western animation that has bewitched millions of tween girls in more than 100 countries.
In March, Netflix announced it will adapt “Winx” into a live-action series for young adults in tandem with its creator,...
A wave of new high-end shows that mine iconic aspects of Italy’s past and present, but also venture into the supernatural and tap into the vibrant reinvention of classic genres — such as spaghetti Westerns and horror that Italian cinema is historically known for — is about to roll out around the world.
But besides shows sparked by the rekindled love affair between long-form narratives and the country’s cinematic past, there is also “Winx Club,” the animated franchise featuring six trendy teenage fairies designed with a style mashing Japanese manga and classic Western animation that has bewitched millions of tween girls in more than 100 countries.
In March, Netflix announced it will adapt “Winx” into a live-action series for young adults in tandem with its creator,...
- 4/8/2018
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
U.K.-based ITV Studios recently bought a majority stake in top Italian production shingle Cattleya, which made “Gomorrah” for Sky and “Suburra” for Netflix. The deal marked the biggest foreign acquisition in the Italian media sphere in recent memory. Cattleya founding partner Riccardo Tozzi spoke exclusively to Variety about the vision behind the company’s increasingly international scope, what he thinks is driving the success of Italian TV dramas in the global marketplace and the next necessary steps.
What prompted the Cattleya sale to ITV Studios and what’s its significance — not just for Cattleya but perhaps for the Italian TV industry at large?
ITV Studios is the largest aggregator of production companies in Europe. Being part of it brings us into the core of the international TV production system. It’s a recognition of the quality of the products we make, but also, indirectly, of the high level achieved by Italian scripted production.
What prompted the Cattleya sale to ITV Studios and what’s its significance — not just for Cattleya but perhaps for the Italian TV industry at large?
ITV Studios is the largest aggregator of production companies in Europe. Being part of it brings us into the core of the international TV production system. It’s a recognition of the quality of the products we make, but also, indirectly, of the high level achieved by Italian scripted production.
- 4/7/2018
- by Carole Horst
- Variety Film + TV
Rome — New seasons of Italy’s high-profile mob shows, Sky’s “Gomorrah” and Netflix and Rai’s “Suburra: Blood on Rome,” are now set to hit global TV and streaming screens in 2019.
Sky announced today that the 12-episode fourth season of “Gomorrah,” which is produced by Italy’s Cattleya and Fandango in partnership with Germany’s Beta Film, will start shooting in mid-April 2018. Concurrently Netflix also announced that shooting just kicked off April 4 in Rome on the 10-episode “Suburra” 2, which ITV-owned Cattleya is producing for Netflix and Rai.
Sky and Rai are both driving the rapid rise of Italy’s scripted dramas in the international TV arena.
In the fourth installment of “Gomorrah” (pictured), which is touted as Italy’s biggest TV export — the first 3 seasons have been sold by Beta across 190 territories — the action will move to London and Bologna, besides Naples and its crime-infested Secondigliano hinterland.
“Gomorrah...
Sky announced today that the 12-episode fourth season of “Gomorrah,” which is produced by Italy’s Cattleya and Fandango in partnership with Germany’s Beta Film, will start shooting in mid-April 2018. Concurrently Netflix also announced that shooting just kicked off April 4 in Rome on the 10-episode “Suburra” 2, which ITV-owned Cattleya is producing for Netflix and Rai.
Sky and Rai are both driving the rapid rise of Italy’s scripted dramas in the international TV arena.
In the fourth installment of “Gomorrah” (pictured), which is touted as Italy’s biggest TV export — the first 3 seasons have been sold by Beta across 190 territories — the action will move to London and Bologna, besides Naples and its crime-infested Secondigliano hinterland.
“Gomorrah...
- 4/4/2018
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Topics that were popular with Screen readers this year included the Cannes Netflix debate, Hollywood harassment, and royal Star Wars cameos.
Topics that were popular with Screen readers this year included the Cannes Netflix debate, Hollywood harassment… and royal Star Wars cameos.
Top 10 News
Source: Cannes Film Festival
UK camera operator dies filming stunt scene on BBC/Netflix drama John Boyega confirms royal cameos in ‘Star Wars’ Korean actor Kim Joo-hyuk dies in car crash Netflix swoops on world rights to Martin Freeman zombie movie Cannes makes Competition rule change after Netflix controversy Arnold Schwarzenegger: I will be back in next ‘Terminator’ film UK entrepreneur launches £1m short film fund Emotional John Ridley responds to race questions at Sky’s ‘Guerrilla’ premiere BFI makes key changes to Film Fund Cannes 2017: Official Selection in full Top 10 Reviews
Source: Disney
‘Coco’
‘Coco’: Review ‘The Foreigner’: Review ‘mother!’:...
Topics that were popular with Screen readers this year included the Cannes Netflix debate, Hollywood harassment… and royal Star Wars cameos.
Top 10 News
Source: Cannes Film Festival
UK camera operator dies filming stunt scene on BBC/Netflix drama John Boyega confirms royal cameos in ‘Star Wars’ Korean actor Kim Joo-hyuk dies in car crash Netflix swoops on world rights to Martin Freeman zombie movie Cannes makes Competition rule change after Netflix controversy Arnold Schwarzenegger: I will be back in next ‘Terminator’ film UK entrepreneur launches £1m short film fund Emotional John Ridley responds to race questions at Sky’s ‘Guerrilla’ premiere BFI makes key changes to Film Fund Cannes 2017: Official Selection in full Top 10 Reviews
Source: Disney
‘Coco’
‘Coco’: Review ‘The Foreigner’: Review ‘mother!’:...
- 12/23/2017
- by Screen staff
- Screen Daily Test
Topics that were popular with Screen readers this year included the Cannes Netflix debate, Hollywood harassment, and royal Star Wars cameos.
Topics that were popular with Screen readers this year included the Cannes Netflix debate, Hollywood harassment… and royal Star Wars cameos.
Top 10 News
Source: Cannes Film Festival
UK camera operator dies filming stunt scene on BBC/Netflix drama John Boyega confirms royal cameos in ‘Star Wars’ Korean actor Kim Joo-hyuk dies in car crash Netflix swoops on world rights to Martin Freeman zombie movie Cannes makes Competition rule change after Netflix controversy Arnold Schwarzenegger: I will be back in next ‘Terminator’ film UK entrepreneur launches £1m short film fund Emotional John Ridley responds to race questions at Sky’s ‘Guerrilla’ premiere BFI makes key changes to Film Fund Cannes 2017: Official Selection in full Top 10 Reviews
Source: Disney
‘Coco’
‘Coco’: Review ‘The Foreigner’: Review ‘mother!’: Venice Review ‘Power Rangers’: Review ‘Alien: Covenant’: Review...
Topics that were popular with Screen readers this year included the Cannes Netflix debate, Hollywood harassment… and royal Star Wars cameos.
Top 10 News
Source: Cannes Film Festival
UK camera operator dies filming stunt scene on BBC/Netflix drama John Boyega confirms royal cameos in ‘Star Wars’ Korean actor Kim Joo-hyuk dies in car crash Netflix swoops on world rights to Martin Freeman zombie movie Cannes makes Competition rule change after Netflix controversy Arnold Schwarzenegger: I will be back in next ‘Terminator’ film UK entrepreneur launches £1m short film fund Emotional John Ridley responds to race questions at Sky’s ‘Guerrilla’ premiere BFI makes key changes to Film Fund Cannes 2017: Official Selection in full Top 10 Reviews
Source: Disney
‘Coco’
‘Coco’: Review ‘The Foreigner’: Review ‘mother!’: Venice Review ‘Power Rangers’: Review ‘Alien: Covenant’: Review...
- 12/23/2017
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
How on Earth do you make a sequel to the thrillingly terrific and original “Sicario“? How do you it without that film’s central character, played by Emily Blunt? Well, we’re about to find out with “Sicario 2: Soldado” which has a rather high bar, set by Denis Villeneuve, to reach.
Directed by Stefano Sollima (“Suburra”), with Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin and Jeffrey Donovan reprising their roles, and Catherine Keener, and Matthew Modine joining the ensemble, the story centers on undercover operative Alejandro Gillick and shifty CIA agent Matt Graver, who reteam to bring down a cartel smuggling terrorists across the U.S./Mexico border.
Continue reading ‘Sicario 2: Soldado’ Trailer: The Drug War Continues at The Playlist.
Directed by Stefano Sollima (“Suburra”), with Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin and Jeffrey Donovan reprising their roles, and Catherine Keener, and Matthew Modine joining the ensemble, the story centers on undercover operative Alejandro Gillick and shifty CIA agent Matt Graver, who reteam to bring down a cartel smuggling terrorists across the U.S./Mexico border.
Continue reading ‘Sicario 2: Soldado’ Trailer: The Drug War Continues at The Playlist.
- 12/19/2017
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
“Suburra” begins with two haunting and indelible images: the deserted St. Peter’s Basilica, as the camera backs slowly and forebodingly away from it, and then two minutes later, a frenetic, writhing, and illicit drug-fueled orgy. It’s this juxtaposition of the public veneer of Rome and its seedy underbelly that combine and form one sprawling world of corruption.
Read More: 7 New Netflix Shows to Binge in October, and The Best Episodes of Each
Set a few years before the events in the modern crime novel “Suburra” and its film adaptation of the same name, Netflix’s new series is the Italian answer to “Narcos” — but instead of drugs, a stretch of land is the coveted commodity. Also, very little law enforcement is present to keep the various criminals in check in this Italian-language thriller.
First, a warning, as the first episode requires time to digest what’s going on...
Read More: 7 New Netflix Shows to Binge in October, and The Best Episodes of Each
Set a few years before the events in the modern crime novel “Suburra” and its film adaptation of the same name, Netflix’s new series is the Italian answer to “Narcos” — but instead of drugs, a stretch of land is the coveted commodity. Also, very little law enforcement is present to keep the various criminals in check in this Italian-language thriller.
First, a warning, as the first episode requires time to digest what’s going on...
- 10/6/2017
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
If there isn’t enough political scandal happening right here at home for you, then perhaps you’ll want to check out “Suburra,” Netflix’s first Italian original series from the same production company behind “Gomorrah.” Based on Giancarlo De Cataldo and Carlo Bonini’s novel and the Netflix film of the same name about a real scandal that emerged recently in Rome, “Suburra” continues the story of the corrupt forces in the Italian capital and the battle over a seaside town developed into a gambling paradise.
Continue reading ‘Suburra’ Trailer & Clips: Corruption Is Everywhere In Netflix’s First Italian Original Series at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Suburra’ Trailer & Clips: Corruption Is Everywhere In Netflix’s First Italian Original Series at The Playlist.
- 9/2/2017
- by Anthony Casella
- The Playlist
Venice Announces 2017 Lineup, Including ‘The Shape of Water,’ ‘Suburbicon,’ ‘mother!,’ and Many More
Will 2017 be the year that Venice gets its king-making mojo back? After a steady run of debuting recent best picture winners — from “Spotlight” to “Birdman” — the festival missed out on last year’s big winner, “Moonlight,” which bowed at Telluride. This year’s lineup is a promising one, and while it’s still very early in the process, it’s difficult not to pick through today’s announcement of the festival’s slate and not search for the big contenders.
As was previously announced, the festival will open with Alexander Payne’s social satire “Downsizing,” starring Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig. The festival will also play home to the premiere of the Netflix original “Our Souls at Night,” as part of their planned tribute to stars Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Annette Bening will lead the competition jury, ending an 11-year succession of male jury chiefs.
Read MoreIndieWire Fall Film...
As was previously announced, the festival will open with Alexander Payne’s social satire “Downsizing,” starring Matt Damon and Kristen Wiig. The festival will also play home to the premiere of the Netflix original “Our Souls at Night,” as part of their planned tribute to stars Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Annette Bening will lead the competition jury, ending an 11-year succession of male jury chiefs.
Read MoreIndieWire Fall Film...
- 7/27/2017
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
When is a sequel not a sequel? When it doesn’t feature the main (and best) character from the previous film. Then, it can be argued, it’s more of a spinoff. Whichever label you choose to give it, the film that will follow Denis Villeneuve’s surprise hit Sicario is now in production, and all eyes were recently on its writer, Taylor Sheridan, as he promoted his new movie, Wind River, at the Sundance Film Festival.
While there, Sheridan fielded questions from Collider about the follow-up, titled Soldado, and how it was spawned from the success of Sicario.
“One of the producers called me and said, ‘If you were to do a sequel, how would you do it?’ and when he first brought it up I thought,’ Well of course you’re asking me.’ And then I had an idea, and I said, ‘Look you can’t really do a sequel,...
While there, Sheridan fielded questions from Collider about the follow-up, titled Soldado, and how it was spawned from the success of Sicario.
“One of the producers called me and said, ‘If you were to do a sequel, how would you do it?’ and when he first brought it up I thought,’ Well of course you’re asking me.’ And then I had an idea, and I said, ‘Look you can’t really do a sequel,...
- 1/26/2017
- by Sarah Myles
- We Got This Covered
The young acting talent will be presented on the opening weekend of next year’s Berlinale.
European Film Promotion (Efp) has revealed the 10 young actors that it has selected for the 2017 edition of European Shooting Stars.
The list includes Romanian actor Tudor Aaron Istodor, best known for his role as Edward II in the BBC production The Plantagenets and Portuguese-British actress Victoria Guerra who has received acclaim for her lead performance in Antonio-Pedro Vasconcelos’ Impossible Love.
Italian actor Alessandro Borghi also features on the list, he is most known for his roles in Stefano Sollima’s Suburra and Michael Vanucci’s I Was A Dreamer.
Other nominess include Swedish actress Karin Franz Körlof, who is noted for her performance in Olaf Spaak’s debut feature Garden Lane.
The selected group will be now be presented during the opening weekend of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival (February 9 – 19).
This year’s Shooting Stars jury included: Lucinda Syson, casting...
European Film Promotion (Efp) has revealed the 10 young actors that it has selected for the 2017 edition of European Shooting Stars.
The list includes Romanian actor Tudor Aaron Istodor, best known for his role as Edward II in the BBC production The Plantagenets and Portuguese-British actress Victoria Guerra who has received acclaim for her lead performance in Antonio-Pedro Vasconcelos’ Impossible Love.
Italian actor Alessandro Borghi also features on the list, he is most known for his roles in Stefano Sollima’s Suburra and Michael Vanucci’s I Was A Dreamer.
Other nominess include Swedish actress Karin Franz Körlof, who is noted for her performance in Olaf Spaak’s debut feature Garden Lane.
The selected group will be now be presented during the opening weekend of the 67th Berlin International Film Festival (February 9 – 19).
This year’s Shooting Stars jury included: Lucinda Syson, casting...
- 12/15/2016
- ScreenDaily
Director Paolo Sorrentino talks tackling TV and The Pope in new Jude Law series.
The Young Pope marks auteur filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino’s first foray into TV.
The Italian director, known for cinematic feasts including Oscar-winner The Great Beauty and Il Divo, will this weekend unveil the first two episodes of the anticipated, big-budget HBO-Sky-Canal Plus series on the Lido, where Venice head Alberto Barbera has reserved it the prestigious first Saturday night slot.
Jude Law stars in The Young Pope as the newly elected and unconventional Pope Pius Xiii (aka Lenny Belardo), a young man struggling under the weight of his new responsibilities and the history of becoming the first American pontiff.
The robust supporting cast includes Diane Keaton, Silvio Orlando, Javier Cámara and Cécile De France. Sorrentino co-wrote the ten-episode series with a trio of decorated screenwriters: Umberto Contarello (The Great Beauty), Tony Grisoni (Southcliffe) and Stefano Rulli (Suburra). Italian outfit Wildside is main...
The Young Pope marks auteur filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino’s first foray into TV.
The Italian director, known for cinematic feasts including Oscar-winner The Great Beauty and Il Divo, will this weekend unveil the first two episodes of the anticipated, big-budget HBO-Sky-Canal Plus series on the Lido, where Venice head Alberto Barbera has reserved it the prestigious first Saturday night slot.
Jude Law stars in The Young Pope as the newly elected and unconventional Pope Pius Xiii (aka Lenny Belardo), a young man struggling under the weight of his new responsibilities and the history of becoming the first American pontiff.
The robust supporting cast includes Diane Keaton, Silvio Orlando, Javier Cámara and Cécile De France. Sorrentino co-wrote the ten-episode series with a trio of decorated screenwriters: Umberto Contarello (The Great Beauty), Tony Grisoni (Southcliffe) and Stefano Rulli (Suburra). Italian outfit Wildside is main...
- 9/2/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Director Paolo Sorrentino talks tackling TV and The Pope in new Jude Law series.
The Young Pope marks auteur filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino’s first foray into TV.
The Italian director, known for cinematic feasts including Oscar-winner The Great Beauty and Il Divo, will this weekend unveil the first two episodes of the anticipated, big-budget HBO-Sky-Canal Plus series on the Lido, where Venice head Alberto Barbera has reserved it the prestigious first Saturday night slot.
Jude Law stars in The Young Pope as the newly elected and unconventional Pope Pius Xiii (aka Lenny Belardo), a young man struggling under the weight of his new responsibilities and the history of becoming the first American pontiff.
The robust supporting cast includes Diane Keaton, Silvio Orlando, Javier Cámara and Cécile De France. Sorrentino co-wrote the eight-episode series with a trio of decorated screenwriters: Umberto Contarello (The Great Beauty), Tony Grisoni (Southcliffe) and Stefano Rulli (Suburra). Italian outfit Wildside is main...
The Young Pope marks auteur filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino’s first foray into TV.
The Italian director, known for cinematic feasts including Oscar-winner The Great Beauty and Il Divo, will this weekend unveil the first two episodes of the anticipated, big-budget HBO-Sky-Canal Plus series on the Lido, where Venice head Alberto Barbera has reserved it the prestigious first Saturday night slot.
Jude Law stars in The Young Pope as the newly elected and unconventional Pope Pius Xiii (aka Lenny Belardo), a young man struggling under the weight of his new responsibilities and the history of becoming the first American pontiff.
The robust supporting cast includes Diane Keaton, Silvio Orlando, Javier Cámara and Cécile De France. Sorrentino co-wrote the eight-episode series with a trio of decorated screenwriters: Umberto Contarello (The Great Beauty), Tony Grisoni (Southcliffe) and Stefano Rulli (Suburra). Italian outfit Wildside is main...
- 9/2/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Former Cinecittà exec Cristina Giubbetti to lead department aimed at luring foreign productions to Italy.
Former Cinecittà Studios executive Cristina Giubbetti has been appointed by Gomorrah - La Serie producer Cattleya to lead a department dedicated to attracting, servicing, and potentially partnering with, international productions looking to shoot in Italy.
Giubbetti started out as sales manager for international productions at Cinecittà Studios. She then became responsible for the studio’s executive production services in 2011, working with international clients including MGM, Paramount, Universal, Canal+, HBO, Warner Bros and Disney.
Cattleya’s president and a managing director Marco Chimenz commented: “We are glad to have added Cristina to our team because of her experience managing international productions shooting in Italy and her large network of contacts, first among which is Cinecittà Studios. We already have a strong relationship with them and thanks to Cristina we will collaborate even more tightly with them, especially in the...
Former Cinecittà Studios executive Cristina Giubbetti has been appointed by Gomorrah - La Serie producer Cattleya to lead a department dedicated to attracting, servicing, and potentially partnering with, international productions looking to shoot in Italy.
Giubbetti started out as sales manager for international productions at Cinecittà Studios. She then became responsible for the studio’s executive production services in 2011, working with international clients including MGM, Paramount, Universal, Canal+, HBO, Warner Bros and Disney.
Cattleya’s president and a managing director Marco Chimenz commented: “We are glad to have added Cristina to our team because of her experience managing international productions shooting in Italy and her large network of contacts, first among which is Cinecittà Studios. We already have a strong relationship with them and thanks to Cristina we will collaborate even more tightly with them, especially in the...
- 7/6/2016
- ScreenDaily
Couched in the sort of kinetic and pounding direction that has hallmarked director Stefano Sollima’s work on Gomorra – the now two series-strong television take on Roberto Saviano’s book of the same name (and itself adapted into a film in 2008) – the gruesome Suburra is a down n’ dirty, and thoroughly testy affair. In […]
The post Suburra Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.
The post Suburra Review appeared first on HeyUGuys.
- 6/22/2016
- by Greg Wetherall
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
As one of the stand-out productions of the year so far, Suburra is a captivating, dark thriller that weaves between a collection of criminals, from corrupt politicians to drug dealers, highlighting the rather stark lack of difference between the two in some circles. We had the pleasure of sitting down with the man behind the […]
The post Exclusive: Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima on Suburra, and helming the Sicario sequel Soldado appeared first on HeyUGuys.
The post Exclusive: Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima on Suburra, and helming the Sicario sequel Soldado appeared first on HeyUGuys.
- 6/22/2016
- by Greg Wetherall
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Suburra is a dark, indelible Italian drama that features a host of reprehensible characters, blurring the line between good and evil. Pierfrancesco Favino, who plays Filippo Malgradi is emblematic of this – and we had the distinct pleasure to sit down with the accomplished actor, to discuss this nuanced, flawed character he’s undertaking. Suburra is […]
The post Exclusive: Pierfrancesco Favino on Suburra appeared first on HeyUGuys.
The post Exclusive: Pierfrancesco Favino on Suburra appeared first on HeyUGuys.
- 6/22/2016
- by Greg Wetherall
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
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