Italy’s Ban on ChatGPT Sparks Controversy as Local Industry Spars With Silicon Valley on Other Matters

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Luca Guadagnino will next direct the William S. Burroughs adaptation “Queer” with Daniel Craig playing the renowned counterculture author’s alter ego, an outcast American expat who lives in Mexico, and “Outer Banks” star Drew Starkey starring as a younger man with whom he becomes madly infatuated. “Queer” will also topline Lesley Manville (“The Crown”), frequent Wes Anderson collaborator Jason Schwartzman; and Henry Zaga (“The New Mutants”), according to inside sources. The boldly ambitious indie film is set to start shooting this month at Rome’s refurbished Cinecittà Studios where the Mexico City-set movie will be filmed in its entirety.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi, Iran’s best-known director, was at the Zurich Film Festival last September when protests following the death of Mahsa Amini erupted in his home country. Since then, the auteur of “A Separation,” “The Salesman” and “A Hero” has not returned to Iran. He’s been working on a new film in Los Angeles and Europe. Interestingly, he says he plans to go back to his country before he shoots this film, even though he is not 100% sure they will let him out again. It’s clearly a risk that the enigmatic Farhadi is willing to take. Farhadi was in Turin on Monday to give a masterclass at Italy’s National Museum of Cinema, where he also received a lifetime achievement award. In a rare interview, he took questions via e-mail from Variety.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Rakuten TV has announced the launch of two new owned and operated FAST channels, bolstering its role as a curated channel programmer in the free ad-supported streaming TV services space. The channels, announced during MipTV’s FAST Summit, will see the growing pan-European video-on-demand streaming service enter the TV series landscape by launching a reality/factual entertainment channel in the U.K. and crime series channels across German speaking territories and in France, Italy and Spain. Rakuten’s Real channel which was launched in the U.K. on April 12, will feature shows such as culinary bootcamp series “Worst Cooks in America”; reality show “My New BFF”, with Paris Hilton; and “Undercover Boss.”

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Beta at MipTV has unveiled a visually dazzling first trailer for period drama “La Storia” that will be Italian pubcaster RAI’s biggest event show this year. The sweeping eight-episode saga 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 – set during the final years of World War II and its immediate aftermath in Italy. Dierected by Francesca Archibugi (“The Hummingbird”), the high-end show stars Italian A-list actor Jasmine Trinca – who last year was a member of the Cannes jury – as Ida, a single mother of two sons, who hides her Jewish heritage and fights against poverty and persecution. The cast also comprises Asia Argento (“xXx – Triple X”), Elio Germano (“Leopardi”) and Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers”).

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent British director Joe Wright, who helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour” – which earned Gary Oldman an Oscar for his portrayal as the British prime minister – has now changed historical sides.  Wright is at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios shooting high-end TV drama “M. Son of the Century” which chronicles Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. A timely tale because, as he puts it: “Populist leaders are sprouting up all over the world.”  Aesthetically, the show will be “quite outlandish” with deeply saturated colors, punctuated by a “kind of techno score,” the director said during a recent set visit. Though “It’s not told in a vérité style,” Wright pointed out that “All the facts of what happened, they’re all there.” 

After being hailed a hero for filling in a pothole in his Brentwood community, Arnold Schwarzenegger's good deed has not gone unpunished, with the city claiming he interrupted scheduled maintenance for a service trench. A city spokesperson clarified that the location "is not a pothole," but rather "a service trench that relates to active, permitted work being performed at the location by SoCal Gas, who expects the work to be completed by the end of May," in a statement given to NBC Los Angeles.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Pedro Almodóvar’s hotly anticipated short “Strange Way of Life” has secured its first deal ahead of its Cannes Film Festival world premiere next month. In the project’s first announced multi-territory deal MUBI — the indie streamer, distributor and producer — has acquired all rights for Italy and Latin America. Pathe will be releasing the film in the U.K. under a longstanding agreement. Shot in southern Spain’s Tabernas desert, “Strange Way of Life” stars Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal as two gunmen who reunite after 25 years. The half-hour film has been described by Almodóvar as a “queer Western, in the sense that there are two men and they love each other,” the director said last December on Dua Lipa’s “At Your Service” podcast. 

Prince George enjoyed a nail-biting day out with his father, the Prince of Wales, to watch Aston Villa’s win against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The nine-year-old football-mad future king was seen in the stands with William and Villa chief executive Christian Purslow at Villa Park in Birmingham for the match, which saw both teams battle it out for victory.

EXCLUSIVE: Amanda Crew, best known for playing Monica Hall on Silicon Valley, has signed with Buchwald for representation.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck had a fun family outing in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The celebration couple was accompanied by their kids and decided to stop for a delicious dinner at Italian restaurant Bar Enza, and it seems the family went all out with a delectable variety of pastas.As reported by Page Six, the singer and the actor were spotted with JLo’s 14-year-old twins Emme and Max, and Ben’s 14-year-old kid Seraphina.

Playboy, and the timing hasn’t gone down well with some of her fellow politicians. Marlene Schiappa, who is the current minister for the social economy and French associations, took part in a shoot for the magazine and gave an interview highlighting women’s rights and LGBTQ+ issues. Schiappa has been vocal in campaigning for gender equality during her time in politics and led the way on a French law banning cat-calling and the harassment of women.

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.

Mark Sutherland Things are looking up for Download Festival. The hard rock and metal event will celebrate its 20th anniversary edition this year with its first-ever sell-out. The fest’s promoter, Andy Copping of Live Nation, confirms that all the weekend tickets and Saturday day tickets for this year’s 90,000-capacity festival have been snapped up, with the final remaining day tickets expected to sell out in the next few days. “We’ve done some big numbers in the past,” says Copping, speaking exclusively to Variety. “But this one has been a complete other level. The festival running for 20 years and hitting that landmark sell-out figure is incredible.”

battling strikes and increasingly violent demonstrations against plans to raise the retirement age by two years. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, who is only the second woman to occupy the position, called Schiappa personally to tell her that it "was not at all appropriate, especially in the current period", an aide told AFP on Saturday. Schiappa is currently the minister for the social economy and French associations.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Andrea Scrosati, who is group COO and continental Europe CEO of Fremantle, isn’t too worried about various types of turbulence that are currently creating anxiety in the U.S. media market such as draconian cost cuts being made by juggernaut groups and the impending prospect of a Writers Guild of America strike. Speaking in Italy at a panel titled “Less is More – What to Do When the Streaming Boom is Over” Scrosati noted that the effect of market consolidation in the U.S. and fear due to plunging stock market results that is prompting cost cuts at Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery certainly means that “some of the big buyers are in a conflict.”

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Bobby Moresco, who won an Oscar as co-writer of “Crash,” and more recently directed “Lamborghini – The Man Behind the Legend,” is set to direct the biopic “Maserati: A Racing Life” about the family that in 1914 started making the high-performance Maserati automobiles in a garage in Bologna. Like “Lamborghini,” the Maserati origins movie is being produced by Andrea Iervolino’s ILBE Group, in which he is partnered with Monika Bacardi. ILBE has taken a liking for films about Italy’s iconic automakers. They are also among producers of Micheal Mann’s upcoming “Ferrari” with Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley. 

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.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Shooting is underway in Italy on Indian action thriller “Salaar” starring Prabhas, who is playing a dual role in the film according to sources. The hotly-anticipated blockbuster written and directed by Prashanth Neel – and produced by Vijay Kiragandur via his Hombale Films shingle – has been filming since mid-March in Matera, the ancient southern Italian town known for its prehistoric whitewashed caves. Matera is the location where, among other international titles, the prologue action sequence for James Bond film “No Time to Die” was shot. The film’s cast also includes Prithviraj Sukumaran, Shruti Haasan and Jagapathi Babu.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Fremantle is restructuring management of its Italian operations by promoting Marco Tombolini to the role of CEO Fremantle Italy. Tombolini, who since May of 2022 was Fremantle Italy co-CEO, will now “Take the helm of all areas and functions of the company, with the senior management of Fremantle Italy reporting directly to him,” a Fremantle statement said. Gabriele Immirzi – who had long served as Fremantle Italy CEO prior to sharing the CEO role with Tombolini since last May – has now stepped down but is staying in the Fremantle fold becoming co-CEO with Lorenzo Mieli of The Apartment Pictures.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Venice Film Festival will honor “The Night Porter” director Liliana Cavani and Tony Leung Chiu-wai, the Hong Kong star of “In the Mood for Love” and Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” with its 2023 Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement. Cavani first attended Venice in 1965 with the historical doc “Philippe Pétain: Processo a Vichy,” which won the Lion of San Marco for best documentary. She was back the Lido in 1966 with her TV movie “Saint Francis of Assisi,” and, again, in 1968, with “Galileo,” followed by Patricia Highsmith adaptation “Ripley’s Game,” starring John Malkovich, in 2002 and “Clarisse,” a doc about an order of cloistered nuns in 2012.