Italy’s Indiana Launches Comedy Movies Strand in Tandem With ‘Quo Vado’ Director Gennaro Nunziante (EXCLUSIVE)

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent After reaping the rewards of a protracted growth spurt, Italy‘s film industry is facing a forced slowdown as the country’s right-wing government dithers with modifications they plan to make to several key regulations, most significantly to the country’s now stalled tax incentives for film and TV production. At a packed protest event held earlier this month in Rome’s Cinema Adriano multiplex, industry figures from all sectors – including producers, writers, actors and big-name directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Marco Bellocchio – lashed out against having to wait endlessly for the government to approve new guidelines so production companies can apply for the 40% tax credits that basically drive the business.

Whether you’re planning on running the London marathon this April, are training for another major run, or just need something to help kickstart your workout routine, nothing gets you motivated and feeling good quite like some new activewear. Although Columbia is known for its outdoor-ready clothing, its newest launch is perfect for those needing a little pre-workout pick me up.

Audiences will have to wait a bit longer to see Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni‘s romance movie It Ends With Us.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Marc Maron has been cast alongside Owen Wilson in an upcoming untitled golf comedy series at Apple TV+, Variety has learned. The series was originally announced in March with Wilson in the lead role. Peter Dager is also set to star in the show.

Angelique Jackson In a competitive situation, Warner Bros. has landed “The Color Purple” director Blitz Bazawule’s next project, which takes on the legendary Yasuke, an African warrior who became the first Black samurai.

EXCLUSIVE: In recent years, comedian Tom Segura has taken to both his podcasts and the press to tease a pilot that he self-financed, produced and sold. And now, he’s revealed Netflix as the destination for the project, a six-episode dark comedy series that he’ll star in and produce.

Boots has just dropped a brand new addition in its Future Renew range - and we know how you can get £10 off.

The BBC‘s news operation in India has formally split in two, as the UK broadcast organization seeks to comply with local media rules.

Lexi Carson ‘80s nostalgia is heading back to Netflix’s theaters with Milestone Movies: The Anniversary Collection – 1984. The Milestone Movies collection will screen across three theaters: New York’s Paris Theater, The Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and The Bay Theater in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Selected films turning 40 this year will play in Netflix’s theaters and the 1984 collection is also available to stream.

SPOILER ALERT! This story contains details from the series finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO.

Katcy Stephan Peter Dager has landed a lead role opposite Owen Wilson in AppleTV+’s new comedy series from Jason Keller. The comedy stars Wilson as Pryce Cahill, an over-the-hill, ex-pro golfer whose career was derailed prematurely 20 years ago. After he gets fired from his job at an Indiana sporting goods store and his wife walks out on him, Pryce hedges his bets entirely on a troubled 17-year-old golf phenom, who will be played by Dager.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor Kevin Smith could have bought the Quick Stop market he made famous in his first film, “Clerks.” But when the opportunity arose, the indie director instead put his hard-earned cash into his childhood movie theater in Atlantic Highlands, N.J., reopening it in 2022 as SModcastle Cinemas. Now he’s fighting to keep the 103-year-old theater going, even if “exhibition is in the toilet,” as he likes to say. In other words, local audiences sometimes prefer to watch big hits like “Avatar” in modern multiplexes, and keeping a repertory theater vibrant without the help of a pricey beer and wine license is not for the faint of heart, he has found.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Warner Bros. is going back to the Matrix. The studio announced that a fifth “Matrix” movie is in development.

Star Wars franchise filmmaker George Lucas has been revealed as the richest celebrity in the world.The director, 79, who has accumulated a $5.5billion fortune, topped the annual Forbes list of celebrity billionaires.Lucas, who was the executive producer, writer and director of the Star Wars franchise up until Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in 2005, also produced the Indiana Jones film series.His production company, Lucasfilm was sold to Disney in 2012 for $4billion, and has produced the later films in the Star Wars series, along with other projects.In his early career, Lucas wrote and directed the 1973 hit, American Graffiti, for which he received Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Picture.But it was 1977’s Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, the first film in the franchise, which would secure his success, becoming the highest-grossing film at the time and winning six Oscars, as well as nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.Lucasfilm have also produced two upcoming Star Wars spin-off series, The Acolyte, and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, both scheduled for release this year.Sitting at second place on the list is celebrated director of Jaws, E.T: The Extra Terrestrial and Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg, with a hefty $4.8billion.Others in the top 20 list include NBA star Michael Jordan, broadcaster Oprah Winfrey, Lord Of The Rings creator Peter Jackson, and singer Taylor Swift.Swift appeared on the annual list for the first time, in 14th place, following reports by Bloomberg last October that she had become a billionaire.The singer, 34, has broken multiple streaming, box-office and ticket sale records in the past year with the success of her global tour and the release of the concert film, Tay

Brent Lang Executive Editor Air Supply may be the latest chart-topping musical act to get the big screen treatment. Altit Media Group said it plans to make biopic about the band that will, in a nod to one of the group’s biggest hits, be entitled, “All Out of Love: The Air Supply Story.” The film will be released in summer 2025 to celebrate Air Supply’s 50th anniversary. Filming is set to take place in Australia and the U.K.

EXCLUSIVE: Gina Lyons, a producer on Dreaming Whilst Black and Amazon Freevee’s upcoming Dinner with the Parents, has launched a comedy indie to amplify working class, female voices.

If you’ve been on the hunt for some stylish new activewear, cosy loungewear or simple everyday essentials, then you’re in luck. Zara McDermott has just launched her new ready-to-wear clothing brand Rise with Lululemon-like pieces from as little as £12. For the first drop of Rise, Zara has teamed up with F&F to roll out her collection.The former Love Island star and documentary maker has been teasing the release on her Instagram over the past week, and from Thursday 28th March the pieces are available to purchase exclusively in all Tesco stores across the country.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Judd Apatow does not believe comedy movies are dead in theaters. While the genre has largely moved to streaming in recent years (Apatow’s last two directorial efforts debuted on streaming, while the Please Don’t Destroy movie he produced last year, “The Treasure of Foggy Mountain,” skipped theaters and debuted on Peacock), Apatow recently told Vulture that all it will take is one comedy blockbuster in theaters to swing the pendulum away from streaming. Actually, that may have already happened in his eyes.

Dakota Johnson is enjoying a day out with a longtime friend.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent In the early 1970s, Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan wrote and recorded songs for the English version of Italian director Franco Zeffirelli’s film “Brother Sun, Sister Moon,” about the early years of St. Francis of Assisi, that evoked the “flower power” hippie movement and developed a cult following. Half a century later, Donovan traveled to Italy last week to watch a freshly restored version of the film in two celebratory events.