Cinecittà Returns To Profit As Int’l Productions Line Up To Shoot At Historic Rome Studios

Citadel doesn’t premiere on Amazon Prime Video until April 28, but the spy thriller starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Richard Madden is set for a second season, and it’s coming to California.

Ed Meza @edmezavar ZDF Boots Factual Entertainment ZDF Studios is boosting factual entertainment with the establishment of new company Content Laden. Founded with managing director Tom Gamlich and creative director Jan Fritzowsky, the Munich-based subsidiary will focus on the development and production of innovative and high-quality formats. Gamlich and Fritzowsky most recently served as the long-standing management team at South&Browse, where they oversaw development and production of successful factual entertainment formats for broadcasters and streamers. ZDF Studios President and CEO Markus Schäfer said the foundation of Content Laden was “an investment in creativity and innovation. We want to create outstanding formats and in doing so, achieve long-term, sustainable growth.”

Matteo Berrettini had a disappointing showing at the Miami Open this year, but it gave him time to rest up for his next tournament!

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Filmmaker siblings Anthony Russo and Joe Russo are calling their deep-dish interview series, “Pizza Film School,” back into session after a nearly three-year break. In Season 2 of the video podcast, the Russo brothers sit down with fellow directors to talk about their favorite films, discuss the craft of making movies — and chow down on a couple slices of pies from local pizzerias. Guests for the second season include Zack Snyder, Nia DaCosta, Justin Chon, R.J. Cutler, Justin Lin and Emerald Fennell. The series is produced by their production company, AGBO. Season 2 will premiered April 11 with new two-part episodes dropping weekly exclusively on AGBO’s YouTube channel.

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.

Florence Pugh brought an added pop of vibrancy to the streets of Rome, Italy during a photoshoot for Valentino.

A new venture? Angelina Jolie may be adding designer to her resume. 

Jenna Johnson is opening up about her past miscarriage. During an appearance on , the 28-year-old pro and her husband, Val Chmerkovskiy, revealed for the first time that she suffered a miscarriage in 2021, less than two years before she gave birth to the couple's son, Rome.«We were in Dallas for a show, and while we were practicing, we did something and I just turned to him and I'm like, 'I think I'm bleeding,'» she said. «And immediately, just my heart dropped.

EXCLUSIVE: Filming has begun on location in Italy and Morocco on virus thriller Cold Storage with Smile star Sosie Bacon joining Joe Keery (Stranger Things), Liam Neeson (Taken) and Georgina Campbell (Barbarian). The Crown star and Oscar nominee Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) is in final talks to join.

Matteo Berrettini leads the way on a jog with Melissa Satta in Miami, Fla., on Tuesday afternoon (March 28).

Gwyneth Paltrow is currently in court after being accused of colliding with a 76-year-old man on the ski slopes in Utah in an accident which he claims caused him "concussion, broken ribs and a brain injury". Yet, Express. co.

Selome Hailu Amazon Prime Video has set its first South African original, “LOL: Last One Laughing,” an unscripted comedy series hosted by Trevor Noah. The series, which will launch in early 2024, sees Noah pit 10 famous South African comedians and entertainers against one another to see who can keep a straight face while simultaneously trying to make their opponents laugh. They compete for a grand prize of 1 million Rand (over 50,000 U.S. dollars) that goes to the winner’s South African charity of choice. “I’m excited to be back home to host Prime Video’s first South African Original, ‘LOL: Last One Laughing,’ and to have a chance to connect with my home audience,” said Noah. “I am equally delighted for the opportunity to be working alongside my fellow home-grown comedy stars on a show that not only entertains but gives back to the South African production and charity communities.”

Lena Headey will be traveling on the Oregon trail.

Former Manchester United captain and previous holder of England's all-time top goalscorer record Wayne Rooney reportedly had to turn down the opportunity to present Harry Kane with the Golden Boot due to MLS commitments.

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has congratulated Harry Kane on becoming England's all-time record goalscorer.

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.

Sky Studios CEO Cecile Frot-Coutaz has called the plethora of shows on the market “really confusing” for viewers.

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.

Jose Mourinho is being linked with a Real Madrid return this summer amid financial strife at current club Roma.

Ben Croll Speaking at a panel organized by Series Mania’s Forum, executives from Sky Studios touted flexibility and autonomy as their keys to success, teasing further synergies with fellow Comcast-owned services like Peacock and SkyShowtime while emphasizing that such broadcast bids were but one option among many. “[We take things] very case-by-case,” said Meghan Lyvers, director of original drama at Sky Studios U.K. “Not all projects that we develop as Sky Originals in Europe will go into the SkyShowtime cluster of territories, [but] they can. And we [welcome] this flexibility, because it allows projects to come to us with other territories attached.”