Fremantle Buys Italy’s Lux Vide, Company Chiefs Unpack Long-Gestating Deal (EXCLUSIVE)

My Brilliant Friend is coming to an end at HBO. But not quite yet.

Liz Hurley has shared her heartache after finding herself unable to attend the funeral of ex-husband Shane Warne.The cricket legend died earlier this month at the age of 52 from a suspected heart attack.Taking to Instagram, Liz - who was in a relationship with Shane between 2010 and 2013 - shared a photo from their engagement and wrote: “My heart aches that I can’t be in Australia tomorrow for Shane’s funeral. “I was filming last night and, with the time jump, physically can’t get there.These pictures were taken in Sri Lanka to celebrate our engagement- we had all our children with us and it was the happiest time.

Naman Ramachandran Vidya Balan (“Kahaani”) and Shefali Shah (“Delhi Crime”), two of India’s finest actors, worked together for the first time in Suresh Triveni’s Amazon Prime Video India original “Jalsa.” The result is an acting masterclass.The film is a tense social thriller where the lives of Balan’s Maya, a top journalist and her Shah’s Rukhsana, Maya’s housekeeper, become inextricably linked together after a horrific incident.Balan’s morally upright journalist wrestles with an ethical dilemma through the film. The actor initially turned down the film because she did not want to play someone who seemed morally ambiguous, but isn’t, and eventually the role’s challenges changed her decision.“Maya is successful and she’s in a position of power and there is a certain aloofness to her demeanor,” Balan tells Variety.

In “The Hand of God,” the Italian director Paolo Sorrentino conjures memories of his formative years in picturesque Naples. Capturing both the sun-dappled summer days he passed in the company of his larger-than-life family and the profound tragedy that set him on a path toward filmmaking, this partly autobiographical drama focuses on Fabio Schisa (Filippo Scotti), a teenager growing up in southern Italy during the 1980s.

Fremantle Boosts Revenue By 25% For RTL Group

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.

Bob Verini Of the five 2021 Academy Award nominees for best international film, Italy’s entry, “The Hand of God,” most directly combines two of cinema’s most treasured themes: intensely personal autobiography that is able to speak to a wider audience, and the art of filmmaking itself.Writer-director Paolo Sorrentino uses the character of 16-year-old Fabietto Schisa — played by newcomer Filippo Scotti — to examine the real-life experiences that led to his own growth as a man as well as his eventual birth as a filmmaker.Watching audiences connect so deeply with a character that is drawn so closely from his own experiences has hit Sorrentino deeply. “Now that it’s more than one year that I shot the movie, I have to say that it’s strange, because now I am sharing my pain with a big audience,” he shares.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItaly’s Stand By Me and RAI have partnered on “The General’s Men,” a high-end drama that delves into the country’s battle against Red Brigades terrorism by portraying a special paramilitary unit set up by a high-ranking police official played by Sergio Castellitto.Castellitto (first look image above) plays General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, the heroic chief of the Carabinieri paramilitary police force who in 1974 set up the Nucleo Speciale Antiterrorismo, a unit of elite young officers, to fight Red Brigades terrorists who were running rampage. In 1978 the Red Brigades abducted and killed then Italian prime minister Aldo Moro.“They are all young [both the terrorists and the elite police officers] and they represent two distinct groups who have decided to be on different sides of history,” said Stand By Me chief Simona Ercolani.

Naman Ramachandran New York-based film and television studio and streaming network FilmRise has struck a production and distribution deal with Los Angeles-based Nicely Entertainment.Under the terms of the deal, FilmRise will co-produce and exclusively distribute in the U.S. holiday-themed films “Sappy Holiday,” starring Vanessa Sears (“The Last Man”) and John McLaren (“Heartland”) and “Snowball Effect” along with two newly completed productions from Nicely – “Adeline,” starring John Schneider (“Dukes of Hazard”) and “Snapshot to Love,” starring Lexi Giovagnoli (“Christmas Lovers Anonymous”) and Benedict Mazurek (“Danger! Danger!”).

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSuperstar Puerto Rican songwriter-producer Tainy, who has helmed such hits as “I Like It” (by Cardi B featuring Bad Bunny and J Balvin), “Dakiti” (by Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez), and “Telepatia” (by Kali Uchis), has sold his pre-2021 music catalog to fast-rising Influence Media (Influence Media Partners).Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although sources tell Variety it was in the $25 million range.The San Juan native (real name: Marco Masis) has appeared on Variety’s Hitmakers list several times and spoke with us about his hits last year. A four-time Grammy nominee and Latin Grammy winner, Tainy has helmed hits for Daddy Yankee, J Balvin, Rosalia, Lauren Jauregui, Zion & Lennox, Anuel, Ozuna, Don Omar, Wisin & Yandel, Rauw Alejandro, Jhay Cortez and more.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterAmazon has ordered two seasons of an animated comedy from Ramy Youssef, Variety has learned exclusively. The series is part of new first-look deal Youssef and his Cairo Cowboy production banner have signed with the streamer.Youssef leads Cairo Cowboy with Andy Campagna, the former senior vice president of television for Sam Esmail’s Esmail Corp.“Ramy has only scratched the surface of his incredible creative gifts,” said Vernon Sanders, head of global television for Amazon.

Fremantle has acquired a 25% stake in Henrik Bastin’s Fabel Entertainment, the international development and production outfit behind Prime Video’s cop drama series Bosch.

Next steps! Two weeks after her wedding to Chris Long, Chloe Trautman has babies on the brain.

Angelina Jolie is expanding her reach as an actor and filmmaker, thanks to a new multi-year deal with Freemantle.

Fremantle has acquired 70% of Lux Vide, the 30-year-old Italian producer of Medici, Leonardo and Coco Chanel.

Fremantle International Bolsters Scripted

Joe Otterson TV ReporterCallum Greene and Sara Greene’s Bright Greene production banner has entered into a first-look deal with Amazon, Variety has learned.Callum is an executive producer on Amazon’s highly-anticipated TV series “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.” Under the deal, Bright Greene will develop and produce new projects for Amazon’s streaming platform. UTA brokered the deal on behalf of Bright Greene.\“After the epic journey of Season One we couldn’t be more excited to continue our work with Amazon,” said Callum Greene.