EXCLUSIVE: Principle photography has begun on the WWII drama The Boy In The Woods, a big-screen adaptation of the wartime novel The Boy in the Woods: A True Story of Survival During the Second World War by Maxwell Smart.
12.10.2022 - 13:49 / variety.com
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Production is underway in Italy on the Italian instalment of Prime Video’s global “Citadel” spy thriller franchise, produced by the Russo Brothers, with Matilda De Angelis cast as the lead. De Angelis, a rising Italian star, made her international breakthrough in Susanne Bier’s “The Undoing,” alongside Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. She more recently appeared with Liev Schrieber in the Ernest Hemingway adaptation “Across The River and Into The Trees,” directed by Paula Ortiz. The “Citadel” start-of-production in Italy and casting announcement was made at Rome’s MIA content market during an Amazon Studios panel.
The previously announced Italian leg of the Amazon event series — which has a U.S.-based “mothership” show as well as offshoot instalments in India, Mexico and Italy — is being directed by Arnaldo Catinari (“Suburra: Blood on Rome”) and written by Alessandro Fabbri (“1994,” “The Trial”) who is also the head writer.
Prominent Italian shingle Cattleya, which is part of ITV Studios, and known for standout shows such as “Gomorrah” and upcoming Spaghetti Western series “Django,” is producing the untitled Italian “Citadel” instalment. Gina Gardini (“Gomorrah,” “ZeroZeroZero”) is the showrunner and serves as executive producer along with Riccardo Tozzi, Marco Chimenz and Giovanni Stabilini for Cattleya. Besides De Angelis, additional cast members of the Italian “Citadel” show are Lorenzo Cervasio, Maurizio Lombardi, Thekla Reuten, Julia Piaton, Filippo Nigro and Bernhard Schütz. The Italian installment will be the first local production launched within the “Citadel” franchise, according to a statement from Prime Video. It will drop exclusively on Prime Video in over 240
EXCLUSIVE: Principle photography has begun on the WWII drama The Boy In The Woods, a big-screen adaptation of the wartime novel The Boy in the Woods: A True Story of Survival During the Second World War by Maxwell Smart.
George R.R. Martin, whose novel Fire & Blood is the basis for HBO’s House of the Dragon television series, claims he doesn’t get his way on everything concerning the script.
Amazon Studios has ordered a new Alex Cross series with Aldis Hodge (Black Adam, One Night In Miami) set to portray the titular character and produce.
EXCLUSIVE: Rushi Kota (Never Have I Ever) has signed on for a role in Sony and Black Bear’s GameStop film Dumb Money, from director Craig Gillespie. He joins an ensemble that already includes Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Sebastian Stan, Pete Davidson, Shailene Woodley, Anthony Ramos, Vincent D’Onofrio, Dane DeHaan, America Ferrera and Myha’la Herrold.
EXCLUSIVE: Production has begun on the psychological thriller The Eye, starring Shruti Haasan (Salaar) and Mark Rowley (The Last Kingdom) from Fingerprint Content.
Angelique Jackson Prepare for more Black lady hilarity as Robin Thede’s Emmy-winning HBO comedy series “A Black Lady Sketch Show” has started production on its fourth season. Created by and starring Thede, “A Black Lady Sketch Show” was renewed in June following a strong third season that netted two Emmys — one for outstanding picture editing for variety programming (a trophy the series has won in back-to-back years, with editors Stephanie Filo, Bradinn French, Taylor Joy Mason and S. Robyn Wilson honored for Season 3) and outstanding directing for a variety series (Bridget Stokes). The first three seasons of the sketch series have garnered 13 Emmy nominations and three wins.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s storied Titanus studio, producers of myriad golden era Cinema Italiano works, is getting a reboot and reviving its production side with several projects in development, including a contemporary sequel of Dario Argento’s supernatural chiller “Phenomena.” Established in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo, Titanus was a true Italian major, which during the 1960s forged a partnership with MGM. They slowed down considerably from the mid-1960s onwards after Luchino Visconti’s lavish Sicily-set costumer “The Leopard” (1963), starring Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale and Alain Delon, went way over budget. Since the mid-1980s the studio’s output has been on a much smaller scale, and primarily for TV.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Exports of Italian TV series and non-theatrical movies have more than doubled over the past five years thanks in part to the rise of local originals commissioned by streamers, just as investments in production of local scripted content are also increasing. That is the key finding of a report unveiled at Rome’s MIA market by Italy’s producers association APA, which estimates the total value of Italy’s TV exports in 2021 at roughly €100 million ($97 million). The total cost of all types of Italian TV and platform content produced in 2021 reached €1.4 billion ($1.36 billion) in 2021, which is a 37% increase compared with 2017, according to the APA report.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent On a cobblestone-paved square in the ancient town of Tivoli, north-east of Rome, in late September, a large crew is prepping to shoot a key scene in Italian period drama “La Storia,” which will be pubcaster RAI’s biggest event show next year. Based on a bestselling novel by the late great Elsa Morante – whom “My Brilliant Friend” author Elena Ferrante often cites as her primary literary reference – “La Storia” is set during the final years of World War II and its immediate aftermath in Italy. The eight-episode series, being unveiled by Beta Film to buyers at Rome’s MIA content market, stars Italian A-list actor Jasmine Trinca – who earlier this year was a member of the Cannes jury – as Ida, a single mother of two sons, who hides her Jewish heritage and fights against poverty and persecution.
Marta Balaga Winter is coming, but not at Netflix, as the streamer will be launching its reality show “Summer Job” – produced by Banijay Italia – before the end of the year. “I am proud, because it’s an original show made for Italy,” said Tinny Andreatta, VP of content for Italy, at MIA Market on Wednesday. Netflix has been eager to expand its unscripted content. “We know our members love it. It’s a really exciting and growing area for us,” added Larry Tanz, VP of content for EMEA. Mentioning some recent successes from “Young, Famous & African” to “I Am Georgina,” both coming back for a second season, as well as new Spanish offering “Who Likes My Follower?”
EXCLUSIVE: Sylvester Stallone, Bear Grylls and Endemol Shine North America have established a production partnership with plans to create high-adrenaline series.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s David di Donatello Awards are launching an innovative ecological initiative under which they will monitor the environmental sustainability of productions in the running for the country’s top film prizes. The move is being touted as a first of this type by Davids organizers who are hoping it can become a game changer in prompting companies in Italy and across Europe to reduce the environmental impact of their film productions. To monitor the carbon footprint and other green aspects of movies submitted to the Davids, the organisation has forged a partnership with EcoMuvi, an Italian protocol that certifies a film production’s ecological sustainability from pre-product through post.
Activists shut down today’s Los Angeles City Council meeting after vowing to do so until three members caught participating in a racially-charged conversation resign their seats. The council was forced to cancel its regular session due to the vocal protesters in the chamber.
Prime Video has sent the Italian instalment of the Russo Brothers’ global sci-fi event series Citadel into production and cast Matilda de Angelis (The Undoing, Leonardo) as its lead, as Amazon Italy execs today touted the streamer’s local growth here at the MIA Market in Rome.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix has announced high-profile Italian original documentary series “Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi,” written and directed by Britain’s Mark Lewis, who won an Emmy for the docu-series “Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer.” The streaming giant has also dropped a trailer for the docuseries, produced by British TV production company Raw. The show will premiere globally on Netflix on Oct. 20. The series is the latest probe into a case that started on June 22, 1983, when Emanuela Orlandi, a 15 year-old girl living in Vatican City, disappeared under mysterious circumstances that are believed to have involved the Vatican. The case made headlines around the world.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent French production powerhouse Studiocanal is moving into the Italian production market by joining forces with Rome-based shingle Elsinore Film with plans to co-develop and coproduce a slate of scripted and unscripted content for the Italian and international market. Elsinore Film is a boutique outfit headed by Annamaria Morelli (pictured, left), a former head of production at Italian streamer TimVision, who is known for her scouting activity. Morelli has had a hand in shepherding “Skam Italia,” the Italian adaptation of the Nordic drama series that’s a hit in Italy. She was more recently among producers of “Amanda,” a quirky teen dramedy about female friendship by newcomer Carolina Cavalli, that launched positively in September from the Venice fest’s Horizons section.
Michaela Zee editor “Americana Dream” has started production in Louisville, Ky., with all key roles cast in the forthcoming indie musical film. New Orleans-based singer Maggie Koerner will play Billie Carton, starring opposite Nashville-based music artist Sam Varga in the role of Lucky Fontana. “With this amazing cast of real-life Americana music artists, we are on an exciting creative journey that will seem both familiar and completely unsettling to the millions of people around the world who watch reality TV music competitions,” said director and co-writer Ate de Jong. The cast of “Americana Dream” also includes singer-songwriter Stephan Said as Ray Pursell, jazz vocalist Carly Johnson as Precious Blue, AJ Haynes as Lee Post and Michelle Malentina as Gabe. DJ Bombshell, Sylvia Walters, David Domine and Ian McConnell will play supporting roles in the film.
trailer was released Saturday, there were plenty of surprises for fans to get excited about. For the cast of Netflix's anticipated new take on the iconic daughter, two cameos revealed in the trailer — Christina Ricci, marking her return to the franchise, and Fred Armisen, who was officially introduced as Uncle Fester — were highlights of the drop.Ricci's debut offered more details on her new character, Miss Marylin Thornhill, as the actress, who played young Wednesday in the '90s films, passes the torch to star Jenna Ortega.«She’s very close to Wednesday and Christina being a wonderful character actress that she is really delivers something that is very memorable and again, so impressed by her,» Ortega told ET at New York Comic Con over the weekend. «I think people are really gonna love it.»While Ortega noted that she and Ricci «never» spoke about playing the same character decades apart, Ortega praised the star, sharing that they «got to know each other as artists and individuals.»Gwendoline Christie, who plays Nevermore Academy Principal Larissa Weems, also praised Ricci's performance as Miss Thornhill.
Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes, 20th Century’s latest installment in the Planet of the Apes franchise, has begun production at Disney Studios Australia, formerly known as Fox Studios Australia, in Sydney, New South Wales.
Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian twin directors Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo have started shooting in Rome on “Dostoevskij,” an eclectic detective drama involving a policeman with a troubled past. This first TV series written and directed by the D’Innocenzo brothers – who are known on the festival circuit for dark dramas “Boy’s Cry,” “Bad Tales” and “America Latina” – is an in-house Sky Studios production produced by the Comcast-owned pay-TV player with Rome’s Paco Cinematografica. Filippo Timi (“Vincere,” “The Eight Mountains”) stars as Enzo Vitello, a sharp detective with a troubled past, who winds up on the blood trail of a ruthless serial killer, nicknamed Dostoevskij because of letters full of gruesome details that he leaves at crime scenes.