Italy's Nanni Moretti directs, stars in Cannes entry 'A Brighter Tomorrow'

Italy’s 01 Distribution has announced a September 28 release for Roman Polanski’s new feature The Palace, fueling speculation that the film will world premiere at the upcoming edition of the Venice Film Festival (August 30-September 9).

EXCLUSIVE: Fresh off the series finale of CBS’ True Lies, Omar Miller has entered production in Italy on Naples to New York, an indie based on a story penned in the 1940s by a young Federico Fellini, who was not yet a filmmaker, and his longtime friend and collaborator Tullio Pinelli.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Roman Polanski’s “The Palace” has been set for release in Italian theatres in September, prompting speculation that the controversial director’s black comedy set in a posh hotel in the Swiss Alps resort of Gstaad on the eve of the new millennium could be launching from the Venice Film Festival. Italy’s RAI Cinema, which is a main backer of Polanski’s new film, has slated a September 28 local release date via its 01 Distribuzione unit for “The Palace” which has an ensemble cast including Mickey Rourke, John Cleese and Fanny Ardant. Other key cast members include German actor Oliver Masucci (“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”); Portugal’s Joaquin De Almeida; the U.K.’s Bronwyn James (“The Dig”) and Italy’s Fortunato Cerlino (”Gomorrah”).

EXCLUSIVE: Subscription streaming outlet MHz Choice, which brings prestige international television to North American viewers, has set its summer slate with the U.S./Canada premieres of 15 series and nine returning shows. Included among them are French period mystery Agatha Christie’s Criminal Games: The ‘70s and Don’t Leave Me, an Italian police drama from the creators of Gomorra.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix has announced production of “Rhythm + Flow Italy” following the launches of the hip hop music competition in the U.S. and France. The groundbreaking talent show that follows and nurtures aspiring rappers will be produced in Italy by Fremantle and feature Italian rappers Fabri Fibra, Geolier and Rose Villain in search of local artists that will make their mark on the Italian rap scene.  “Rhythm + Flow Italy” – which stands as testament to how Italy’s hip hop producers and artists have been pushing the boundaries of the genre and made Italy one of Europe’s largest hip hop markets – will be an 8-episode series available on Netflix in 2024.

Fixer To Fabulous is going global!

Emma Watson has been spending time abroad and it looks like she’s kicking off her summer with a relaxing getaway!

HGTV has renewed its hit series Fixer to Fabulous, starring Dave and Jenny Marrs, for a 16-episode fifth season. Additionally, the network has ordered a new four-episode spinoff series Fixer to Fabulous: Italiano, also featuring the home renovation and design experts.

Grey's Anatomy star Kevin McKidd and actress Danielle Savre were spotted kissing while on vacation in Italy on Wednesday. The pair enjoyed each other's company while having a swim in Lake Como and sharing an intimate moment on the dock after taking a dip in the Italian sea. Savre, 34, wore a barely-there orange bikini and McKidd, 49, rocked a pair of dark swim trunks as they packed on the PDA.They were also spotted exploring the town of Bellagio, Italy, taking a stroll around the historic seaside enclave and keeping close with hugs and kisses. Savre plays firefighter Maya Bishop on the spinoff,, while McKidd has portrayed Dr. Owen Hunt on since 2008.

A hot couple has formed in Shondaland - Grey’s Anatomy star Kevin McKidd and Station 19 actress Danielle Savre are dating!

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Eight months after Italy took a sharp turn to the right, the government headed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – whose Brothers of Italy party has neo-fascist roots – is wreaking havoc at state broadcaster RAI, prompting the abrupt exit of several executives and TV personalities and causing alarm within the country’s film and TV sectors. At RAI, where politics have always held sway, managing director Carlo Fuortes resigned earlier this month saying he was unwilling to “agree to changes” in the broadcaster’s content and programming “that I do not consider to be in RAI’s best interests,” he underlined. Fuortes has now been replaced by Roberto Sergio, a veteran RAI executive who is considered basically bi-partisan. The pubcaster’s new general director, instead, is former RAI board member Giampaolo Rossi, who is backed by Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and is known for his controversial tweets and support of Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and far-right Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Bachelor Nation takes Italy! As Andi Dorfman and Blaine Hart prepare to exchange vows, Tayshia Adams, Hannah Ann Sluss, Amanda Stanton and more Bachelor alums have landed overseas for the nuptials.

Simu Liu is all loved-up.

Leonardo DiCaprio is having some fun in the sun with his friends!

Four people have reportedly died after a tourist boat carrying British tourists celebrating a birthday capsized on Lake Maggiore in Italy.

Picture the scene: a lake shimmering in the summer sunshine, water gently lapping the shore and beautiful mountains in the distance. It’s an image which has made the Italian Lakes a world famous holiday destination - and one that’s popular with A-list stars with George Clooney famously owning a property there.

Alice Rohrwacher’s “La Chimera” flits between languages (English, Italian, French, German) as fluidly as it does mediums (35mm, Super16mm, and 16mm cinematography) and styles (jerkily sped up Chaplin-esque scenes, clinical CCTV footage, audacious 180-degree camera flips). Rohrwacher uses this mosaic of disparate approaches to hone in on other kinds of incongruous and unpredictable interplay: modern Italy and its ancient past, heartbreak and new love, and the real world and its spiritual mirror realm.

A Chimera is something one tries to achieve but alas, never manages to find. It is the heart and soul of a quest in life, in different ways, for the cast of characters in writer/director Alice Rohrwacher’s beautiful new film La Chimera premiering today as one of the last entries in competition at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. It also happens to be one of the best.

In less than 10 years, Alice Rohrwacher has carved out a formidable reputation for herself, notably by gatecrashing the boys’ club that is traditionally the Cannes competition, and the fact that she did so in 2014 with only her second film, The Wonders, is further proof of a distinctive talent. One competition slot doesn’t guarantee another, yet Rohrwacher was back in 2018 with the follow-up, Happy as Lazzaro. Both films won prizes — Grand Prix and Best Screenplay, respectively — which means that expectations are high for the Oscar-nominated 41-year-old Italian, whose new film, La chimera, makes it three in a row.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s RAI Cinema, which has four titles in this year’s Cannes selection, has closed a deal on Ron Howard’s next movie “Origin of Species,” a hot project at the Cannes market starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Ana de Armas, Jude Law and Alicia Vikander. RAI Cinema chief Paolo Del Brocco said the company – which is the film arm of Italian state broadcaster RAI – has teamed up with Rome-based Lucisano Media Group to acquire Italian rights from CAA Media Finance on Howard’s survival thriller penned by Noah Pink (“Tetris”) about a a group of eclectics who turn their backs on civilization and head to the Galapagos. In Cannes, RAI Cinema also picked up Italian rights from Gaumont on family movie “Moon The Panda,” by French humans and animals adventures specialist Gilles de Maistre, known for “Mia and the White Lion”and “The Wolf and the Lion.” De Maistre’s latest, about the friendship between a boy and a panda, is set to shoot later this month in China’s Sichuan mountains.