Nick Vivarelli: Last News

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentBanijay CEO Marco Bassetti will deliver a keynote address at the upcoming Mipcom TV market in Cannes.As CEO of one of the world’s top independent content production and distribution outfits, Bassetti oversees a large-scale operation spanning 22 territories, over 120 production entities and a catalogue that includes “Survivor,” “Peaky Blinders,” “Big Brother” and “MasterChef,” as well as upcoming titles “Rogue Heroes,” “Blow Up,” “Starstruck” and “Marie Antoinette.”Bassetti will be on stage on the Oct. 17-20 market’s second day.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentPenelope Cruz and Adam Driver, who are both expected to be attending the upcoming Venice Film Festival, are already in Italy shooting Micheal Mann’s long-gestating “Ferrari” drama, in which Cruz appears as the wife of auto racing impresario Enzo Ferrari, played by Driver.First images are surfacing of Cruz (see above photo) as Ferrari’s wife Laura after cameras started rolling Aug. 1 in central Italy.The big-budget biopic kicked off physical production in the town of Maranello, known worldwide as the home of Ferrari and the iconic car’s Formula One racing team.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent10 Swiss film festivals with international standing are joining forces on a symbolically significant screening series to be held in Locarno’s PalaCinema multipurpose venue which is also known as the Swiss lakeside town’s house of cinema.The innovative initiative – which is being launched with a press conference on Saturday at the Locarno Film Festival – is the brainchild of Nadia Dresti, the Locarno fest’s grand dame, who recently joined the PalaCinema board.The PalaCinema (pictured) houses the Locarno film festival offices, its film academy, the CISA film school, the Ticino Film Commission, Swiss pubcaster RSI, as well as several commercial cinemas and other screening venues.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian critic Giona A. Nazzaro, artistic director of the Locarno Film Festival, has assembled what he defines as a “broad, diversified and inclusive program” for the 75th edition of the Swiss event, which will open with “Atomic Blonde” helmer David Leitch’s Brad Pitt-starrer “Bullet Train” screening on its 8,000-seat outdoor Piazza Grande. The frothy U.S.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentDaniel Brühl and Macaulay Culkin have joined the cast of Spanish director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s pandemic themed thriller “Rich Flu.”They will be starring opposite Rosamund Pike, who had previously been announced as the lead.Cameras are now set to roll this fall on the high-concept social thriller in which a deadly disease starts killing off the richest people on the planet. At first it strikes the billionaires, then the multi-millionaires, and so on.With the whole world panicking and headed for collapse, people are trying to flood the market with assets they no longer want, in hopes of saving their skin.“Rich Flu” will be the second feature for Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, whose 2019 directorial debut “The Platform” was awarded best film, and best F/X at the Sitges’ Intl.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentDisney+ has commissioned a still-untitled TV series on Sicily’s Florio family who during the 19th century built an economic empire on the island and became known as the merchant princes of Europe.Casting is underway in Rome and Palermo, the Sicilian capital, on this high-end period epic to be directed by Italy’s Paolo Genovese whose hit dramedy “Perfect Strangers” has spawned countless remakes around the the world, including an Arab-language adaptation for Netflix.The Sicilian skein, which according to sources is expected to start shooting in July, is based on local bestseller “The Lions of Sicily,” by Stefania Auci, which has sold more than 500,000 copies in Italy and been translated in 30 languages. News that Genovese is directing this Disney+ Italian original has been reported in the Italian press and confirmed by multiple sources.The show, which marks the most high-end Disney+ Italian original to date, is being executive produced by Rome-based Lotus Productions — a unit of Leone Film Group. Both Leone in Rome and Disney in London declined to comment.The Florio’s, who moved to Sicily from Calabria following an earthquake in the late 19th century that had left them penniless, gradually built an empire on the island over the following two decades, becoming a dynasty of shipowners, winemakers, and tuna merchants but also creators of the Targa Florio, the world’s oldest endurance car race.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentMarvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” won’t be playing in Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries due to the inclusion of a gay character.Saudi Arabian censors did not issue a permit to release the film in the kingdom, since the changes they requested were not approved by Disney, according to a source.The new Sam Raimi-directed sequel stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular character, and it also features the new hero America Chavez, played by “The Baby-Sitters Club” star Xochitl Gomez. Her character in the movie is reportedly gay, true to how she is portrayed in the Marvel comics.The “Doctor Strange” sequel, which will go on release in the U.S.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentShooting is underway on “Woken,” a psychological thriller set on a remote island in the North Sea starring Erin Kellyman (“Solo: A Star Wars Story”) and Maxine Peake (“Funny Cow”).The pic is being directed by first-time Irish director Alan Friel who previously worked with Peake on his prize-winning 2017 short “Cake.”Cameras are rolling in Fanore Beach, Ireland, on “Woken,” which is being lead-produced by Ireland’s Fantastic Films. Fantastic has partnered on the pic with Italy’s Propaganda, the Rome-based indie shingle that is ramping up production and moving into the genre pics space.“Woken,” which is also written by Friel, is set against a post-apocalyptic scenario in which the isle provides a safe haven from a pandemic that has decimated earth.

Manori Ravindran International EditorParamount is the latest studio to plant its flag in the ground at French TV drama festival Series Mania, where international CEO Raffaele Annecchino broke down the company’s international distribution and SVOD strategy.In a keynote moderated by Variety’s Italy and West Asia correspondent Nick Vivarelli, Annecchino detailed plans to focus internationally on premium SVOD service Paramount Plus and FAST offering Pluto TV, which has more than 64 million monthly users. Also in the mix to “compete with our ecosystem,” according to Annecchino, is Paramount’s JV with Comcast, SkyShowtime, which is launching in 20 European markets where Paramount Plus won’t be available.By the end of 2022, both Paramount Plus and SkyShowtime will be in more than 60 markets in Europe.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe upcoming Los Angeles-Italia Film Fashion and Art Festival will be honoring Italian directors Paolo Sorrentino (“The Hand of God”) and Enrico Casarosa (“Luca”) as well as costume-designer Massimo Cantini Parrini (“Cyrano”) all of whom have scored nominations for the upcoming Academy Awards. The 17th edition of the pre-Oscars event will be held March 20-26 at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre and also online.This year’s opening ceremony will be hosted by veteran Italian-American actor Robert Davi, who is also this year’s president of the event. Sofia Milos (“CSI: Miami”) and Hollywood acting coach Bernard Hiller will co-host.Consul General of Italy Silvia Chiave and Italian Institute of Culture chief Emanuele Amendola will also be introducing honorees both at the Chinese Theatre and during a separate March 25 event being held at the Italian Institute of Culture.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentApple TV Plus has set a May 6 premiere date for the second season of Israeli-produced International Emmy Award-winning global espionage thriller “Tehran.”The new season stars Glenn Close, who appears in the first-look teaser image, and Niv Sultan, who returns as Mossad agent Tamar Rabinyan, as well as Shaun Toub and Shervin Alenabi. The series will debut with the first two episodes, followed by new weekly installments each Friday during its eight-episode season through June 17.The complete first season of “Tehran” is now streaming alongside an expanding slate of Apple Originals from all over the world.“Tehran” was the first non-English language series to be released on Apple’s streaming service in September 2021 after it bought international distribution rights shortly after the show’s original debut in Israel in June 2020.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe heirs of Aldo Gucci, who was chairman of the Gucci fashion house from 1953 to 1986, have issued a statement saying they are “a bit disconcerted” about what they claim is their inaccurate portrayal in Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci” film.“The production of the film did not bother to consult the heirs before describing Aldo Gucci — president of the company for 30 years [played by Al Pacino in the film] — and the members of the Gucci family as thugs, ignorant and insensitive to the world around them,” the statement said.It added that the pic attributes “a tone and and an attitude to the protagonists of the well-known events that never belonged to them.”  “This is extremely painful from a human

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentMarvel’s “Eternals,” which features the first MCU gay superhero, has been banned in Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries ahead of its planned Nov. 11 rollout across the Gulf region.Sources have confirmed that despite the film being publicized across the region on the websites of local multiplex chains, such as top local exhibitor Vox Cinemas, “Eternals” won’t be playing in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFor the Rome Film Festival’s 16th edition — which opens Thursday — Artistic Director Antonio Monda has secured high caliber guests such as Quentin Tarantino and Tim Burton, who are being fêted. Also attending are “Gravity” director Alfonso Cuaron and influential comics writer, artist and director Frank Miller, creator of the “Dark Knight” Batman comics series as well as “Sin City” and “300,” who is coming for the world premiere of celebratory doc “Frank Miller — American Genius” by Silenn Thomas.The Eternal City’s Festa del Cinema, as the event is known locally, will close with Chloé Zhao’s “Eternals,” which marks “the first time a Marvel movie goes to a festival,” Monda boasts.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentTunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s “I and the Stupid Boy,” the new title in the Prada-commissioned Miu Miu Women’s Tales short film series directed by women, was unveiled Sept. 4 at the Venice Film Festival’s independently run Venice Days section.The short by Ben Hania, who directed the Oscar-nominated “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” is a tale of male-female power, sexuality and shame — with a biting, feminist twist.  In “I and the Stupid Boy,” the protagonist, Nora, is a striking young woman, newly in love.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe country’s box office is still sputtering but Italian cinema is instead “in a state of grace,” as Venice chief Alberto Barbera put it recently as he announced the five features from Italy that are competing for the fest’s Golden Lion. It’s the most he’s ever selected from Italy.And Barbera is adamant that he didn’t allocate almost one-fourth of Venice’s 21 competition slots to Cinema Italiano “to support our colors at a difficult time.”“Some years he selects very little from Italy,” notes Barbara Salabè, who is the top Warner Bros.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentRTL-owned production and distribution giant Fremantle, which has two films in competition in Venice, has entered exclusive negotiations to buy Italy’s Lux Vide, the prominent TV production company behind, most recently, the high-end “Medici,” “Devils” and “Leonardo” skeins.Sources have confirmed to Variety a report in Italian financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore that Fremantle, which already owns two other Italian production companies — Wildside and The Apartment, the shingle behind Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Hand of God” and “America Latina” by the D’Innocenzo Brothers — is in advanced talks to buy Lux.Fremantle and Lux Vide declined to comment on Friday.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Locarno Film Festival has unveiled a promising lineup combining edgy new works by established auteurs such as Abel Ferrara alongside plenty of potential discoveries by emerging helmers and global newcomers for its upcoming 74th edition.It will be the first one under new Artistic Director Giona A. Nazzaro, the former Venice Critics’ Week chief who is steering the Swiss fest known as an international incubator and indie cinema temple on a more audience-friendly course.“A festival can be quite highbrow and also entertaining at the same time” Nazzaro told Variety.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentThe Locarno Film Festival will celebrate U.S. animator and visual effects artist Phil Tippett, winner of two Oscars for his work on “The Return of the Jedi” and “Jurassic Park,” with a lifetime achievement award.Locarno’s upcoming edition will also host the world premiere of Tippett’s long gestating experimental stop-motion film “Mad God,” said to be set in a Miltonesque world of monsters, mad scientists and war pigs, and funded by fans through Kickstarter.The prominent Swiss fest dedicated to international indie cinema is on track to hold its 74th edition as an in-person event Aug.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentGiorgio Diritti’s biopic “Hidden Away,” about crazed primitivist painter Antonio Ligabue, was the big winner at Italy’s 66th David di Donatello Awards, the country’s top film prizes.The Davids were held with an in-person ceremony aired from two venues amid a strong spirit of restart as Italian movie theaters gradually begin to reopen.“Hidden Away,” which was the frontrunner with 15 nominations, scored seven statuettes including best picture, director and actor honors won by Elio Germano who tackles “the fiendishly difficult role” of the self-taught artist “with customary gusto,” as Variety critic Jay Weissberg noted in his review.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentDavid di Donatello Academy president Piera Detassis, who is also Hearst Italia’s film editor at large, is the first woman to head the organization behind Italy’s equivalent of the Oscars, which she has been busy overhauling and pushing toward greater gender parity. The current ratio of women among the academy’s 1,578 voters is roughly 30%, which marks a step forward, though there is certainly room for improvement.