Italy’s Storied Titanus Studio Reboots Production, Sequel of Dario Argento’s ‘Phenomena’ in the Works
variety.comNick 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. Now led by former Disney Italy marketing chief Stefano Bethlen, who is Titanus’ general manager, the company – which has a 400-title library comprising early works by Italian masters such as Federico Fellini, and Visconti classics, alongside plenty of genre fare – is ramping up production activity “in two separate strands: legacy, which is based on our library IPs and other vintage properties that we acquire, and originals,” said Bethlen.
On the legacy side, Titanus has teamed up with Los Angeles-based company The Exchange, founded and headed by veteran sales executive Brian O’Shea, to co-develop a U.S.
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