Alzheimer’s Doc ‘The Eternal Memory’ Scores Multiple Sales for Dogwoof Following Sundance, Berlin Bows (EXCLUSIVE)

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent 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 that is starting to be 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.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Bobby Moresco, who won an Oscar as co-writer of “Crash,” and more recently directed “Lamborghini – The Man Behind the Legend,” is set to direct the biopic “Maserati: A Racing Life” about the family that in 1914 started making the high-performance Maserati automobiles in a garage in Bologna. Like “Lamborghini,” the Maserati origins movie is being produced by Andrea Iervolino’s ILBE Group, in which he is partnered with Monika Bacardi. ILBE has taken a liking for films about Italy’s iconic automakers. They are also among producers of Micheal Mann’s upcoming “Ferrari” with Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley. 

Jonathan Majors has been charged with varying counts of assault.The star – who most recently starred in Creed III with Michael B. Jordan and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania with Paul Rudd – was initially arrested in New York City on Saturday, and has now been charged by the New York District Attorney.His charges include three counts of assault in the third degree, aggravated harassment in the second degree, three counts of attempted assault in the third degree, and harassment in the second degree.WATCH: Jonathan Majors stars as Kang the Conquerer in Ant-Man and the Wasp: QuantumaniaDISCOVER: George Stephanopoulos shares personal career update amid unexplained absence from GMAThe victim of the alleged assault was only described as a 30-year-old woman, and she was taken to the hospital following the incident after suffering what the police said were minor injuries to her head and neck.Now, documents obtained by People on Monday reveal that the 33-year-old allegedly struck the unnamed woman on her face "with an open hand, causing substantial pain and a laceration behind her ear."DISCOVER: ABC's David Muir shares adorable picture of family member amid 20/20's continued shakeupThe documents also note he grabbed her by the hands and neck, "causing bruising and substantial pain" as a result.

Warning: Spoilers for “Succession” season 4 episode, “The Munsters,” written by creator Jesse Armstrong and directed by Mark Mylod. Alan Ruck, Kieran Culkin and more from the cast talk to ET as they break down what’s at stake for members of the Roy family and tease the shifting dynamics that will follow the first episode. 

CPH:DOX, the international nonfiction film festival in Copenhagen, isn’t shy about stating its ambitions.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Fremantle is restructuring management of its Italian operations by promoting Marco Tombolini to the role of CEO Fremantle Italy. Tombolini, who since May of 2022 was Fremantle Italy co-CEO, will now “Take the helm of all areas and functions of the company, with the senior management of Fremantle Italy reporting directly to him,” a Fremantle statement said. Gabriele Immirzi – who had long served as Fremantle Italy CEO prior to sharing the CEO role with Tombolini since last May – has now stepped down but is staying in the Fremantle fold becoming co-CEO with Lorenzo Mieli of The Apartment Pictures.

 The Emmy-winning family saga,, is finally back with new episodes, as the HBO series comes to a close with its fourth and final season. According to the cast, the final installment promises to be as «surprising» as ever, with the «gloves coming off.»«It's thrilling to watch,» Alan Ruck teases, with Nicholas Braun adding that «this season is just ratcheted up.

Guy Lodge Film Critic Doug and Kris Tompkins’ dream sounded like a fanciful one. Seduced by a region of ravishing South American wilderness in which they found particular sanctuary, and wishing to protect it from any insensitive or unseemly development, they landed on a solution both simple and absurd-sounding: Why not simply buy as much of it as possible? Backed by the fortune they’d collectively amassed from the clothing industry — Doug as the founder of Esprit and The North Face, Kris as the former CEO of Patagonia — the couple successfully parlayed business tycoon status into an unprecedented scale of eco-activism: As one talking head notes in “Wild Life,” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s soaring documentary tribute to the Tompkins’ romance and shared conservationist mission, they “could do anything, and chose to do anything.”

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Documentary specialist Autlook Filmsales closed a raft of sales at a vibrant market during the Copenhagen documentary festival CPH:DOX. “Subject,” directed by Camilla Hall and Jennifer Tiexiera, got picked up by Sweden’s SVT, Denmark’s DR, Norway’s NRK, Norway’s VGTV, The Netherlands’ VPRO, Israel’s Yes Doc, and Madman for Australia and New Zealand. Dogwoof released the film early this month in the U.K. “Subject” is an examination of the relationship between nonfiction filmmakers and their subjects. It raises important ethical questions during a golden of age for documentaries, when docs are screened by millions of viewers. The film re-visits protagonists of some of the most viewed documentaries of today – “The Staircase,” “The Square,” “Hoop Dreams,” “The Wolfpack” and “Capturing the Friedmans.”

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Los Angeles-based Italian director Andrea Pallaoro’s delicate drama “Monica” is finally set to open in U.S. theaters via IFC following its world premiere at last year’s Venice Film Festival. The film starring transgender actor Trace Lysette (“Transparent”) as a woman who returns home to the Midwest to care for her dying mother, played by Patricia Clarkson, marked the first time an openly-transgender actress headlined a Venice competition title. In “Monica” Lysette plays a woman who from Los Angeles goes back to her suburban midwest home for the first time since she was a teenager to care for her mom who had rejected her when she transitioned.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian director Susanna Nicchiarelli, whose trilogy of female biopics, “Nico, 1988,” “Miss Marx,” and “Chiara” all launched from the Venice Film Festival, is set to direct the TV series “Fireworks” depicting the struggle of Italy’s partisans against Nazis and Fascists through the point of view of a twelve-year-old girl named Marta. Shooting is set to start on May 8 in the Piedmontese Alps on “Fireworks,” which is being produced by Domenico Procacci’s Fandango and Rome shingle Matrioska. Fandango, who is the show’s lead producer, is in advanced talks with Italian state broadcaster RAI to come on board. Fandango is also talking up the six-episode limited series at the Series Mania confab in Lille, France, where they are seeking prospective international partners.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian Canadian actor Giacomo Gianniotti, who played Dr. Andrew DeLuca on “Grey’s Anatomy,” is set to star in “Inganno,” Netflix’s Italian adaptation of the U.K. TV series “Gold Digger” that starts shooting this week on the Amalfi coast. The taboo-breaking show – which was dubbed a “toyboy thriller” by the British press – depicts the passionate and turbulent relationship between an older woman and a man who is half her age. In this case the affair disrupts and subverts Italian social and family norms. A “Gold Digger” adaptation for Indian audiences is also reportedly in the works. “Inganno,” which means “deceit” in Italian, is being directed by Neapolitan auteur Pappi Corsicato whose “The Seed of Discord” competed at the Venice Film Festival in 2008. Corsicato’s visual style is often compared to Pedro Almodovar, of whom he has been an assistant.

Charna Flam After “Enough Said,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus reunites once more with Nicole Holofcener in the filmmaker’s recent Sundance feature “You Hurt My Feelings.” A24 released the first official trailer for the upcoming dramedy, “You Hurt My Feelings,” starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Beth and Tobias Menzies as Don,a married couple who have reached romantic and professional crossroads. Holofcener wrote and directed the film, her second indie collaboration with Louis-Dreyfus, which co-stars Menzies (“The Crown”), David Cross (“Arrested Development”), Jeannie Berlin (“The Heartbreak Kid”), Arian Moayed (“Succession”), Michaela Watkins (“The Unicorn”), Amber Tamblyn (“The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”), Owen Teague (“It”) and Zach Cherry (“Severance”).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix has acquired global rights to Italian rom-com “Era Ora” (“Still Time”), marking a rare instance in which an Italian comedy is set to gain worldwide visibility. “Still Time” is directed by Alessandro Aronadio, a Los Angeles Film School graduate whose first work “One Life, Maybe Two” launched from Berlin’s Panorama section. The concept comedy stars Edoardo Leo (“Perfect Strangers”) as a workaholic named Dante who is perpetually late to everything important and Barbara Ronchi, soon to be seen in Marco Bellocchio’s “La Conversione,” as his girlfriend Alice with whom Dante winds up leaping ahead a year every few hours, just as he wants to slow down.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Aardman Animations’ founder Peter Lord and “Waltz With Bashir” director Ari Folman are set to receive Pulcinella Career Awards at Italy’s Cartoons On The Bay TV animation festival which is broadening its scope. The event launched in 1996 by Italian state broadcaster RAI has now expanded beyond TV toons to comprise video game productions, the comic book world, transmedia storytelling and metaverse animation content. Reflecting its more high-tech horizons, the fest’s 27th edition – which will run May 31-June 4 in the Southern seaside city of Pescara – will also be celebrating “Cuphead,” the hit Canadian video game that’s become a Netflix series, and bestowing its creator Maja Moldenhauer with its new Transmedia Award.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has announced a dozen projects from young filmmakers from Saudi, and the wider Arab and African region, selected for its development program, the Red Sea Lodge, in collaboration with TorinoFilmLab and sponsored by the Film AlUla film commission. The Lodge is a 10-month mentorship program that has now opened up to African works along with Saudi and Arab projects. Winners will take home a portion of the total $200,000 pot in prizes that will be awarded during the fest’s 2023 edition in December.  The selected projects from Saudi Arabia are:

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian sales company True Colours has closed a raft of sales following Berlin’s European Film Market. Italy’s box office hit “La Stranezza” (“Strangeness”) got picked up for a dozen territories and queer romantic drama “Norwegian Dream” also sold widely, including to North America. Directed by Roberto Andò, “Strangeness” (pictured) toplines Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”) as Nobel-prize-winning playwright Luigi Pirandello. This tragicomic period piece about how Pirandello found inspiration to write his masterpiece “Six Characters in Search of an Author” has been a sleeper hit at the Italian box office, coming from nowhere to pull more than €5.5 million ($5.8 million) and becoming the local 2022 box office champ.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian producer Andrea Iervolino is planning to bring to the big screen “Maserati: a Racing Life,” an English-language biopic about the family behind the high-performance automobiles that, along with Ferrari and Lamborghini, Italy is known for.   Iervolino’s AMBI Group – in which he is partnered with Monika Bacardi – previously produced the Bobby Moresco-directed biopic “Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend” and is also among producers of Micheal Mann’s upcoming “Ferrari” with Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley. He told Variety he sees “Maserati” as a natural segue to those films about Italy’s iconic automakers.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Locarno Film Festival is launching a first-of-its-kind contest, offering a free complete restoration service to a selected vintage cinema classic. The contest is part of The Swiss fest’s Heritage Online program that was launched in 2021 when its Locarno Pro industry side branched out into vintage cinema creating a platform that serves as a database of film titles that premiered prior to 2005. The goal of the fest dedicated to indie cinema is to play an active role in restoring older films to their former glory and also to become a business facilitator between rights holders and classic film distributors, streaming platforms and other outlets.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian star author Robert Saviano, whose mob exposé “Gomorrah” spawned both Matteo Garrone’s eponymous prizewinning movie and the groundbreaking crime series that plays stateside on HBO, is making his directorial debut. Saviano will direct “I’m Still Alive,” an animation adaptation of his graphic novel illustrated by Israeli artist Asaf Hanuka (“Waltz With Bashir”). “Still Alive” examines the anti-mob activist’s life under armed guard since being forced to live with police protection shortly after 2006 when Saviano’s account of the inner workings of the Neapolitan Camorra crime syndicate was published. Just like Saviano’s graphic novel, “I’m Still Alive” will feature illustration’s by Hanuka, an Eisner-winning cartoonist who is known, besides “Bashir,” for his autobiographical strips “The Realist” and for graphic novel “The Divine.”