Patrick Stewart had a different idea for how he wanted Star Trek: Picard to end its run on Paramount+.
19.09.2023 - 13:55 / variety.com
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix on Tuesday unveiled four new Italian originals – two feature films and two series – that confirm its continued investment in Italy as local subscribers grow. The new projects also bolster the fact that the bulk of the streamer’s Italian productions are not high end and have a primarily local focus.
During a Rome presentation Eleonora Andreatta – affectionately known as Tinny – who is Netflix’s VP of Italian originals, said that Netflix remains “committed to our investment in Italy and Italian stories with conviction, continuing our long-term commitment to the country and its creative community.” Andreatta, who owing to having caught COVID-19 was speaking remotely to the packed room, described Netflix’s lineup as being characterised by “Authenticstories, able to speak to the present [and] about the present and [which can] emotionally touch the audience on issues closest to the lives they live.” According to data released last month by Italy’s media watchdog Agcom Netflix now has 8.9 million subscribers in Italy, which places it well ahead of Amazon Prime Video with 6.3 million subs and Disney+ with 3.7 million customers. Below is a rundown of top titles in the Netflix Italy presentation. New Netflix Italy Feature Films “Il Treno dei Bambini” directed by Cristina Comencini whose “Don’t Tell” was nominated for an Intl.
Oscar in 2005. Set in 1946 it’s based on the true tale of a seven-year-old boy named Amerigo who in 1946 leaves his impoverished family in Naples and gets on a train to go live with a wealthier family in the north as part of a postwar initiative to rescue children from poverty.
Produced by Palomar. “Fabbricante di lacrime” (“Maker of Tears”) directed by
.Patrick Stewart had a different idea for how he wanted Star Trek: Picard to end its run on Paramount+.
George Clooney‘s The Boys in the Boat is getting a first look!
Lego and Nintendo have revealed Lego Animal Crossing, featuring mini figures of fan-favourite villagers as well as characters like Isabelle and Tom Nook.The teaser for the collaboration showed Rosie, Bunnie, Marshall, Kapp’n, Fauna, Julian, Isabelle and Tom Nook waving at a floating present with a balloon attached. When the clouds parted, the logos for Lego and Animal Crossing appeared in the sky.Behind the villagers were Lego trees with plastic fruit like apples, oranges and cherries on their branches, and Lego flowers studded into the grass.
William Earl Variety announced today it will host its annual New York Party on Thursday, Oct. 7, celebrating this year’s cover star honoree, Ice Spice, along with the individuals profiled in Variety’s 2023 New Power of New York Impact List. The New Power of New York Impact List recognizes 50 creatives, executives and entrepreneurs who are making waves in the New York entertainment scene.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent U.S. actor Elena Kampouris (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3”) is set to star in the Sicily-set “Here Now,” a romantic thriller marking Italian director Gabriele Muccino‘s return to English-language filmmaking.
Coronation Street star Sally Dynevor has been flooded with supportive messages from her co-stars and fans as she shared her pride in a special announcement. The actress took to social media to share how her eldest daughter, Phoebe, was gracing the cover of the latest ELLE USA magazine.
RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Willam has joined the cast of the Off-Broadway musical Titanique and we have the first photos of the star on stage as Victor Garber!
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian star Luisa Ranieri, who played the emotionally troubled Aunt Patrizia in Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God,” has joined the cast of the Johnny Depp-directed film “Modì,” about Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani. The film has started shooting in Budapest. Ranieri is starring in “Modì” alongside fellow Italian Riccardo Scamarcio, who plays the bad boy painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France and became famous for the groundbreaking modern style of his portraits and nudes.
Emma Stone’s next project promises to be a big departure from her previous roles, evident from a series of first-look photos unveiled on Tuesday.
Showtime has set a November premiere date for comedy The Curse, starring Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie. The 10-episode series will launch Friday, November 10 on streaming and on demand for Showtime and Paramount+ subscribers before making is linear debut on Showtime on Sunday, November 12 at 1 pm ET/PT. Showtime also has unveiled an expanded look at images from the series, which will have its world premiere at the 2023 New York Film Festival on Thursday, October 12, screening the first three episodes. You can see the images above and below.
Todd Haynes’ May December will open the New York Film Festival on Friday, but Netflix is giving an intriguing sneak peek via the first official trailer for the film that was the talk of Cannes this year.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent French multi-hyphenate Lou Doillon, who is Jane Birkin’s daughter, is set to star in Italian comedy “Quasi a casa” directed by Carolina Pavone, a former assistant director on several Nanni Moretti films. Shooting is underway in Rome on the sophisticated comedy, in which Doillon — a model, actor and singer-songwriter, like her half-sister Charlotte Gainsbourg — plays an eclectic, successful singer who strikes up a turbulent friendship with a younger female musician who idolizes her.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian multi-hyphenate Ilaria Borrelli’s Arabic-language feminist drama “The Goat” – featuring Mira Sorvino and John Savage, alongside a stellar Egyptian cast – is set for back-to-back launches at Egypt’s upcoming El Gouna Film Festival, followed by the closing film slot at the Rome Film Festival. A rare, if not unique, case of an Arab production directed by an Italian, “The Goat” stars young Egyptian TikTok star Jessica Hosam as an 11-year-old pregnant orphan named Hadya who after being forced into marriage becomes the target of a western corporation that seeks to control the only water source in her village.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Fandango Sales has taken international distribution rights to quirky comedy “Volare” about the fear of flying that marks the directorial debut of actor Margherita Buy. Buy is known internationally for frequent roles in Nanni Moretti movies, most recently in “A Brighter Tomorrow” that launched from Cannes. Her smart concept movie is being lead-produced by Simone Gattoni for Kavac Film, the company founded by veteran auteur Marco Bellocchio.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Indiana Production – which has just become part of pan-European studio Vuelta Group – is staying true to its roots with production kicking off this month on gender swap movie “Romeo is Juliet,” directed by quality comedy specialist Giovanni Veronesi, just as the company expands its horizons. This latest title in Indiana’s slate stars A-lister Sergio Castellitto and Pilar Fogliati (“Romantiche”) who plays an actress named Vittoria who after being brutally rejected by a cynical stage director when she auditions to play Juliet in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” decides to reinvent herself as a man to audition for Romeo and gets the part.
Shannon Beador has been arrested.
The BBC has teased first-look pictures of the return of hit drama Vigil, which is set to return for a second season later this year. The thriller stars Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie as Detective Chief Inspector Amy Silva and Detective Sergeant Kirsten Longacre respectively.
Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong Disneyland has confirmed Nov. 20 as the opening date for the World of Frozen themed land based on the hit animated movies “Frozen” and “Frozen 2.” And, with two months until opening, first look images are now being released. The cinematic land of Arendelle contains attractions that enable guests to participate in Summer Snow Day, the day that the film’s Princess Anna saved Elsa and the kingdom with an act of love, meet Elsa at her Ice Palace, board Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs and enjoy an interactive play experience with the characters at Playhouse in the Woods. The films’ Anna, Elsa and Kristoff characters are represented by fully-electric ‘Audio-Animatronics’ figures, which Walt Disney Imagineering says are its most advanced. Visitors to the land can wear rosemaling patterned clothes, add glittering ice-inspired face paint, style their hair like Elsa or wear a cape like Anna. Landmarks within the new land include: North Mountain, with its peak as the highest point in Arendelle; the Ice Palace where Elsa unleashes her icy powers freely for the first time; Arendelle Castle, home of the royal family; the Bay of Arendelle, featuring the small fishing boat that Anna fell on when she met Prince Hans; Clock Tower where Anna danced with Hans; and Friendship Fountain where Elsa uses her magical powers to freeze its water into snowflake ornamentations. There are new retail and food and beverage facilities, as well.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian producer and director Ginevra Elkann, whose delicate first feature “If Only” opened the 2019 Locarno fest garnering critical praise, is at the Toronto Film Festival with her tonally different follow-up, “I Told You So.” The movie features a group made up mostly of women who are having a mental meltdown amid an unprecedented January heat wave in Rome. As the heat rises, so do the characters’ obsessions with sex, food, drugs, alcohol, and religion. The eclectic ensemble film, which was conceived by Elkann and her co-writers during the pandemic, features a star studded cast comprising Danny Huston – speaking perfect Italian on screen – as a heroin-addicted Italian-American priest.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Emmy-nominated “The White Lotus” star Sabrina Impacciatore will play the Venice Film Festival’s master of ceremonies in the upcoming second season of the Italian version of “Call My Agent,” which will also feature a cameo by Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera. Impacciatore, wearing a red gown, disembarked from a water taxi at the Excelsior Hotel pier on the Venice Lido on Saturday welcomed by Barbera, as cameras rolled for a key scene in the show.