Gary Oldman Joins Cast of Paolo Sorrentino’s New Untitled Film, a Love Letter to His Native Naples

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix on Tuesday unveiled four new Italian originals – two feature films and two series – that confirm its continued investment in Italy as local subscribers grow. The new projects also bolster the fact that the bulk of the streamer’s Italian productions are not high end and have a primarily local focus.

In its latest milestone, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer has passed the $900M mark worldwide. The estimated total through Friday is $903M, including $586M from the international box office. With Saturday and Sunday numbers, that global cume is projected to reach $912M. This will make it the highest grossing biopic ever at the global box office, ahead of Bohemian Rhapsody. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent U.S. director Darren Lynn Bousman’s English and Arabic-language horror film “The Cello,” starring Jeremy Irons and “Saw” star Tobin Bell, is set to open theatrically across Saudi Arabia on Thursday, marking a significant moment in the kingdom’s moviemaking ambitions. The high-end chiller, about a cellist who finds out his new instrument comes with a centuries-old curse, is generating local buzz and robust ticket pre-sales following its gala premiere on Sept.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor The 24th Annual Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) has unveiled its lineup for this year’s festival, taking place Oct. 12-19. It includes 91 films from 19 countries, including 14 world premieres.

Britney Spears‘ younger sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, has joined the cast. Jamie Lynn’s casting reveal comes at a time when her mega-famous older sister is dealing ith a lot of drama in her life.The “Sweet Magnolias” star shared her excitement to join the cast of “DWTS” via social media after being announced on “Good Morning America.” The “Zoey 101” star has been partnered with pro dancer Alan Bersten for the season.

The actress and singer is the third celeb from the cast of the upcoming season to be announced.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Emmy-nominated “The White Lotus” star Sabrina Impacciatore will play the Venice Film Festival’s master of ceremonies in the upcoming second season of the Italian version of “Call My Agent,” which will also feature a cameo by Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera. Impacciatore, wearing a red gown, disembarked from a water taxi at the Excelsior Hotel pier on the Venice Lido on Saturday welcomed by Barbera, as cameras rolled for a key scene in the show.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent British director Luna Carmoon’s first feature “Hoard” has scored three prizes at the Venice Critics’ Week where the other standout title is Chilean documentary “Malqueridas.” In “Hoard,” which is set in 1984 London, 7-year-old Maria and her mother live in their own loving world built on sorting through bins and collecting shiny rubbish. One night, their world falls apart, and the film joins Maria a decade later, living with her foster mother.

Love Island's all-stars new series, Love Island Games, has reportedly bagged two major previous celebrities already. Model Megan Barton-Hanson and professional dancer Curtis Pritchard are said to have signed up to the exciting new project, and are already out in sunny Fiji doing filming along with presenter Maya Jama. The highly-anticipated spin-off show, which will see a host of former contestants gearing up to go head-to-head in a series of challenges while also looking for love once more, was announced earlier this week.

K.J. Yossman “Shakespeare in Love” actor Simon Callow has been cast in the sequel to micro-budget slasher hit “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.” Stage and screen star Callow, who has also appeared in “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and “The Witcher” among other fare, is set to play a character called Cavendish, who is described by the filmmakers as “a pivotal character with a dark past somehow tied to Christopher Robin.” “Cavendish’s tragic life, marked with alcoholism, violence and regret, not only brings significant depth to the story, but revelation as well,” the producers tell Variety. Variety understands Callow was approached via his agents and, liking the character, agreed to sign on for the role.

EXCLUSIVE: Distributor-producer Lucky Red is one of Italy’s most respected independent film and TV companies. Run by former actor Andrea Occhipinti since 1987, the firm has released more than 500 titles and produced more than 50 films.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian hotshot Pietro Castellitto is in competition in Venice with his second feature “Enea,” in which he also stars as the titular character, a young Roman sushi restaurant owner and cocaine dealer whose best friend Valentino just got his license as an airplane pilot. There is a lot going on in this fresh and frenzied film lensed by ace cinematographer Radek Ladczuk (“The Babadook”). “Enea” is produced by Lorenzo Mieli’s the Apartment, which is a Fremantle company, and Luca Guadagnino’s Frenesy.

Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore‘s new movie May December is set to introduce the 2023 New York Film Festival later this month!

Ellise Shafer Woody Allen got a warm ovation from journalists at the press conference for “Coup de Chance” at the Venice Film Festival, where he managed to avoid any controversial questions about his stalled career and the sexual abuse allegations made against him by his daughter, Dylan Farrow. That was in large part thanks to his longtime cinematographer, Italian superstar Vittorio Storaro, who spoke for nearly a third of the press conference, while answering a single question.

EXCLUSIVE: Nadia Forde has joined the cast of Conflict, the Finnish political thriller series from Rebellion director Aku Louhimies and XYZ Films.

EXCLUSIVE: It’s a scorching 90 degrees in Rome at the end of July, but producer Lorenzo Mieli isn’t breaking a sweat.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Saverio Costanzo, who was last in the Venice competition in 2014 with Adam Driver-starrer “Hungry Hearts,” is back on the Lido with “Finally Dawn.” The 1950s-set film stars Lily James plays a slightly fading American diva named Josephine Esperanto, who’s shooting a swords and sandals epic at Cinecittà when the famed filmmaking facilities were known as Hollywood on the Tiber. At the studios, Esperanto intersects with a young Roman woman named Mimosa, who is auditioning as an extra and takes a shine to her innocence. A “Dolce Vita” night follows in which Esperanto, Mimosa and the Hollywood epic’s other U.S.

King Krule has shared a new live film, comprised of footage from his recent run of intimate live shows.

Gary Oldman has been tapped for the cast of Italian director Paolo Sorrentino’s as yet untitled, Naples-set new film.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent It’s official: Adam Driver, Caleb Landry Jones, Mads Mikkelsen and Jessica Chastain are among the stars set to attend the upcoming Venice Film Festival. Following multiple unsourced reports, the festival has confirmed that Driver is expected on the Lido’s red carpet to promote Micheal Mann’s “Ferrari,” in which he plays the titular character, Italian car racing pioneer Enzo Ferrari; Landry Jones is coming for Luc Besson’s “Dogman”; Mikkelsen will make the trek for Danish director Nikolaj Arcel’s “The Promised Land” and Chastain for Mexican auteur Michel Franco’s “Memory,” her first role since her Oscar-winning performance in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.” Also expected on the Lido are Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi, who play Priscilla and Elvis Presley in Sophia Coppola’s “Priscilla.” as well as Priscilla Presley herself.