‘Forbidden Notebook,’ Feminist Bestseller by Alba de Céspedes, Getting TV Adaptation From Italy’s Notorious Pictures

Davide Abbatescianni This year’s Lucca Comics & Games (Nov. 1-5) is set to end on a high note with a special fan screening of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” one of the most anticipated launch events hosted by Europe’s largest pop culture meet. The release of the prequel to the iconic saga will be handled by Rome-based Notorious Pictures, which takes over distribution duties, previously handled by Warner Bros.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s culture minister Gennaro Sangiuliano has designated Italian journalist and writer Pietrangelo Buttafuoco as the new president of the Venice Biennale, the foundation that oversees the Venice Film Festival. Buttafuoco (pictured above, left), an openly right-wing member of Italy’s cultural establishment known to be an eclectic thinker, is now set to replace former film producer Roberto Cicutto (pictured, right) at the Biennale’s helm when Cicutto’s four-year mandate expires in March 2024.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The saga of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni splitting from her partner, Mediaset TV personality Andrea Giambruno, after leaked outtakes revealed the anchorman making sexist remarks, is gripping the country amid speculation of political conspiracy behind the incident. Meloni, who became Italy’s first female prime minister a year ago when her right-wing Brothers of Italy party scored big in the country’s national elections, officially dumped Giambruno — her partner for a decade and the father of their young daughter (pictured above with Pope Francis) — last Friday via social media.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Oscar-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore’s vintage TV series “Il Camorrista,” starring Ben Gazzara as one of the fiercest bosses of the Neapolitan Camorra crime syndicate, is being unearthed from the vault 37 years after the mobster himself quashed the show before it aired. “Il Camorrista” was shot in 1985 as part of an innovative production mounted by Italy’s glorious Titanus shingle and Silvio Berlusconi’s ReteItalia. The production comprised both a Tornatore feature film by the same title and the five-episode TV show.

Michaela Zee Amazon MGM Studios has acquired the rights to adapt “Glossy,” about the beauty brand and its founder Emily Weiss, into a television series, Variety has confirmed. Sources tell Variety that “Pet Sematary: Bloodlines” director Lindsey Anderson Beer and her production company Lab Brew are attached to produce, with Alexandra Banks and Spencer Walken on board as executive producers.

EXCLUSIVE: Chiwetel Ejiofor (Rob Peace), Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3) and Jacob Tremblay (The Toxic Avenger) have joined the cast of The Life of Chuck, the latest of many Stephen King adaptations from filmmaker Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep), which kicked off production in Alabama under an interim agreement earlier this month. Tom Hiddleston and Mark Hamill lead the ensemble of the pic, written and directed by Flanagan, as we were first to tell you.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Beta Film has announced a half-dozen sales to European public broadcasters on high-end period drama “La Storia,” which is Italian pubcaster RAI’s biggest event show of the year and is world premiering at the Rome Film Fest. The sweeping eight-episode saga, set in Italy during the final years of World War II and its immediate aftermath, is based on a globally bestselling novel by the late great Elsa Morante, whom “My Brilliant Friend” author Elena Ferrante often cites as her primary literary reference.

Gwen Stefani officially has her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent James Franco will play a U.S. Navy sailor stationed in post-World War II Naples, where he fathers a child, in gritty Italian drama “Hey Joe.” Directed by Claudio Giovannesi (“Gomorrah” TV series, “Piranhas”), the film is now shooting in the southern port city.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Veteran RAI exec Adriano De Maio has been trying to shake things up at the Italian state broadcaster since last May, when he was appointed head of film and drama. To contend with the unstoppable disruption caused by digital and streaming in Italy’s TV landscape, De Maio is trying to steer RAI toward programming that provides more cultural enrichment, while also catering to the youth demographic that drives traffic on the pubcaster’s RAI Play streaming platform — which has more than 23 million subscribers, way more than Netflix’s Italian customer base. As RAI faces possible budget cuts due to the government’s decision to lower its license fee [RAI’s current allocation for film and TV series was not immediately available], De Maio sat down with Variety in Rome to discuss his vision for the scripted content he’d like RAI to acquire for its viewers.

Adrian Peterson has made it to the fourth week of competition on Dancing With the Stars and he’s getting ready for “Disney100 Night“!

“Three’s Company” star Suzanne Somers passed away Sundayat the age of 76 after a battle with breast cancer. During her long career in showbiz, she made her fortune starring on the hit ’70s sitcom, as well as being a spokeswoman for the contraption, the ThighMaster.But as to how she got to be a part of the thigh-busting equipment empire, is a tale within itself.Somers was best known for playing the ditzy blonde Chrissy Snow on “Three’s Company” from 1977 to 1981 alongside late star John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt.Ritter was reportedly being paid $150,000 per episode — and Somers wanted to be on the same playing field.She asked the network executives for equal pay and demanded a salary bump similar to the “8 Simple Rules” alum.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Investment in original content production continues to grow in Italy where resources across all genres reached a total of €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion) thanks to increased investments from U.S. streamers.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Sky Italia is launching a high-profile documentary series with international ambitions titled “The Overlooked Serial Killer,” reconstructing a true-crime case that has gripped millions of Italians. The documentary investigates the connection between Elisa Claps, an Italian teenager who disappeared in 1993, and Heather Barnett, a British woman whose mutilated body was found in Bournemouth in 2002.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian genre specialist Stefano Sollima, who is known for gritty TV series “Gomorrah” and Hollywood movies “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” and “Without Remorse,” is shooting Netflix original limited series “Il Mostro” about the string of sex-related murders that took place outside Florence from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s. “Il Mostro,” which translates as “The Monster,” is the moniker given to the alleged serial killer who committed eight double murders, preying on couples parked in cars in secluded places around Florence. The still unsolved case marks one of the longest investigations into the most brutal serial killings in Italy’s history.

These two are moving fast!

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Rome’s MIA Market, dedicated to international TV series, animation, feature films, documentaries and more, kicked off Monday in the Eternal City’s 17th century Palazzo Barberini. There were some 2,300 registered industry execs on day one – roughly 300 of which are buyers – more than 120 selected projects on display, and plenty of panels.

David Beckham was the man of the hour at the premiere of his new Netflix docuseries Beckham on Tuesday (October 3) in London, England.

Wedding bells were chiming over the weekend for Anya Taylor-Joy and Malcolm McRae! The “Queen’s Gambit” star, 27, tied the knot with the 29-year-old mu

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.