Italian Content Boom Confirmed As Producers Study Shows Investment Topped $1.4B in 2021, For 37% Increase Since 2017

The White Lotus is back for , swapping Maui, Hawaii for Taormina, Sicily. Icon Jennifer Coolidge makes the transatlantic trip to reprise her role as Tanya McQuoid, and we're better off for it.

Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel! The beloved couple celebrated their 10-year anniversary on Wednesday, and revealed they recently renewed their vows to honor the milestone.Biel took to her Instagram story Wednesday evening to share a snapshot of herself and her husband smiling and rocking white ensembles. In the pic, Timberlake rocked a cream colored linen suit, while Biel shined in a voluminous white dress with a black bow around the waist.«From our vow renewal this summer,» wrote Biel, who was smiling and holding up a peace sign with her fingers in the fun snapshot.

The leaves are changing and that means it’s time for stars to stay home and avoid the autumn chill — and Us Weekly has what any A-lister needs for a cozy night in.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Exports of Italian TV series and non-theatrical movies have more than doubled over the past five years thanks in part to the rise of local originals commissioned by streamers, just as investments in production of local scripted content are also increasing. That is the key finding of a report unveiled at Rome’s MIA market by Italy’s producers association APA, which estimates the total value of Italy’s TV exports in 2021 at roughly €100 million ($97 million). The total cost of all types of Italian TV and platform content produced in 2021 reached €1.4 billion ($1.36 billion) in 2021, which is a 37% increase compared with 2017, according to the APA report.

Marta Balaga Italian production company Lux Vide, also behind “Medici” and “Leonardo,” will make its first move into unscripted TV with “Italian Food Tour.” TikTok’s “Condiment Claire” Dinhut and chef Max Mariola will co-host the 12-episode show, exploring culinary – and cultural – characteristics of various Italian regions. Introduced to international buyers during MIA Market, “Italian Food Tour” will start shooting in the spring. Antonio Azzalini has been tapped as showrunner. “At Lux Vide, we like to promote our country. Also because Italians are so bad at marketing,” CEO Luca Bernabei tells Variety at the show’s unveiling in Rome. The company was acquired by Fremantle in March.

Marta Balaga Sky Studios has confirmed its commitment to premium content at MIA Market in Rome. “When we say premium, we talk about mature, provocative, sophisticated storytelling,” said Meghan Lyvers, director of original drama at Sky Studios U.K. Noting the company’s interest in prestige, high-end limited series (“‘Chernobyl’ was an incredible example of that”), “blockbuster” event series, but also ones that can potentially return. An adaptation of Heather Morris’ novel “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” is in the works, which will see Sky partnering up with Peacock. TNT has acquired “The Lazarus Project,” while crime series “A Town Called Malice,” created by Nick Love and launching next spring, will be a “love letter” to the 1980s.

Netflix’s Italian arm is hunting for anti-heroes.

The number of Italian feature films finding a home outside of Italy doubled between 2017 to 2021, according to a new landmark study commissioned by local cinema body Anica.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Former RAI CEO Fabrizio Salini – who prior to running the Italian pubcaster held top posts at Sky, Fox International Channels, and Discovery Italy – has joined Italy’s Minerva Pictures, which is stepping up its expansion from film into the realms of TV and streaming content. The veteran TV exec will become a board member at Rome-based Minerva, the production, digital publishing and distribution company headed by Gianluca Curti. Minerva has been branching out into TV since 2019 when Santo Versace, who is the older brother of Gianni and Donatella Versace, decided to invest in the company, becoming chairman of its board. Salini, besides joining the Minerva board, will be in charge of the company’s “business activities with broadcasters and streamers,” said Curti, who added that the exec has a mandate to explore opportunities that go beyond film, TV series and docs.

Prime Video has sent the Italian instalment of the Russo Brothers’ global sci-fi event series Citadel into production and cast Matilda de Angelis (The Undoing, Leonardo) as its lead, as Amazon Italy execs today touted the streamer’s local growth here at the MIA Market in Rome.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix has announced high-profile Italian original documentary series “Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi,” written and directed by Britain’s Mark Lewis, who won an Emmy for the docu-series “Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer.” The streaming giant has also dropped a trailer for the docuseries, produced by British TV production company Raw. The show will premiere globally on Netflix on Oct. 20. The series is the latest probe into a case that started on June 22, 1983, when Emanuela Orlandi, a 15 year-old girl living in Vatican City, disappeared under mysterious circumstances that are believed to have involved the Vatican. The case made headlines around the world.

A statue of Christopher Columbus in Philadelphia remains hidden by a plywood box while its fate is decided in the courts, but the box has now been painted with the colors of the Italian flag. City officials told the news station KYW that they painted the box covering the 146-year-old statue in south Philadelphia's Marconi Plaza with green, white and red stripes at the request of Councilmember Mark Squilla, who represents the district. The new look came just in time for Columbus Day, the holiday now celebrated in Philadelphia and elsewhere as Indigenous Peoples Day.

Game of Thrones star Lena Headey and Ozark actor Marc Menchaca may have finally got their happy ending – unlike their on-screen characters – as they have reportedly married in a beautiful Italian wedding.  The Hollywood stars have never confirmed their relationship publicly but were first pictured together at an event in 2020.  Since then, it appears their romance has blossomed behind the scenes as photos are circulating on social media of the two on what seems to be their wedding day in the Italian city of Puglia.