Joe Wright on Making Benito Mussolini TV Series With a ‘Rave Culture’ Aesthetic and a Techno Score

Harry Potter film franchise, posted two photos of herself when sharing the news. In the sweet images, Bonnie took to Instagram to show off her baby bump and captioned the post: "We’re having a baby! So excited to share this beautiful land with them. "What a wild and humbling journey pregnancy is, transforming to make space for new life.

“I didn’t expect to find a friend like Bruno in my life. Nor that friendship was a place where you put down roots, that remains waiting for you.” It’s with these words, delivered in wistful voiceover, that Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch open “The Eight Mountains,” their sublime and gently aching adaptation of the Italian bestseller by Paolo Cognetti.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Dubai-based podcast company Kerning Cultures Network is producing “The Lebanon Heist,” an original investigative probe into the root causes of Lebanon’s devastating financial crisis. Launching in October, the six-part podcast will be produced in English and Arabic, delving into the crash that led to millions of Lebanese citizens being robbed of their life savings, and exploring the role of Riad Salamah, the country’s current central bank governor, who is considered to be at heart of the collapse. He is accused of having embezzled and laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in public funds. Salameh, who denies wrongdoing, is being investigated in Lebanon and several European countries for allegedly siphoning off more than $300 million from the central bank with his brother throughout more than a decade.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Prominent Paris-based producer Marianne Slot, who has been instrumental to bringing works by auteurs such as Lars Von Trier, Lucrecia Martel, and Argentina’s Lisandro Alonso to the big screen, is being honored by the Locarno Film Festival. Slot will receive the Swiss festival’s Raimondo Rezzonico prize for a producer who epitomizes the indie ethos. She will be bestowed with the award on Aug. 5 with a tribute that will include a screening of Icelandic director Benedikt Erlingsson’s environmental-themed black comedy “Woman At War,” followed by an on-stage conversation on Aug. 6. Born in Denmark, Slot set up the Paris-based production company Slot Machine in 1993. She has been Von Trier’s French producer since 1995, starting with “Breaking the Waves.” Over the years Slot has shepherded works by a slew of indie auteurs at various stages of their careers. Besides Martel and Erlingsson these include Bent Hamer, Małgorzata Szumowska, Paz Encina, Emma Dante, Marian Crişan, Juliette Garcia, Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Sergei Loznitsa, and Naomi Kawase.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Shooting has kicked off in Rome on limited series “The Leopard” based on the classic Sicily-set novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that marks Netflix’s most ambitious Italian original to date. Production on the lavish period piece will take place in the Sicilian cities of Palermo, Syracuse, Catania as well as the Italian capital over the next four months. The historical tapestry with elements comparable to “Downton Abbey” or “The Crown,” and potential to make a global mark, is a modern take on the sensual Sicilian saga famously adapted into a film by Luchino Visconti starring Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon and Burt Lancaster. The film, now an Italian cinema classic, won the 1963 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Wattpad Webtoon Studios, the entertainment arm of the user-generated fiction and comics entertainment outfit, and Italy’s Leone Film Group have announced two new adaptations based on hit young-adult Wattpad novels. Taiwan-based author Ann Rae’s romantic mystery “The Locker Exchange,” which is set in a U.S. high school and has over 26 million reads globally on the Wattpad platform, is set to become an English and Italian-language feature film. And “Love Me, Love Me” by Italian writer Stefania S, which has scored 12 million reads in Italy, is to be adapted into an Italian-language series by Leone’s Lotus Production unit. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent London-based Sideways Film has taken world sales on British director Carey Born’s “Cyborg: A Documentary” about a man who was born color blind and has an antenna embedded in his head to help contend with this condition. Filmed in the U.K., Spain, Denmark, Australia and across the U.S. in New York, Los Angeles, San Jose and New Jersey, the doc about the world’s first officially recognized cyborg premiered last month at the CPH:DOX festival in Copenhagen and was selected by the fest to screen online on its PARA:DOX platform. “Cyborg” centers on “cyborg artist” Neil Harbisson who was born with a rare condition called achromatopsia, which means he sees only in black and white. In 2003 Harbisson had an illegal operation. A so-called “eyeborg” antenna was implanted in the back of his head enabling him to “hear colour” as waves that are translated into sound frequencies and transmitted to his auditory cortex. Since then Harbisson started touring the world talking about being a cyborg.

The Prince of Wales commemorated Australia and New Zealand’s war dead in a dawn service marking Anzac Day on Tuesday. Hundreds of Australians, New Zealanders, and military personnel watched as William laid a wreath of red poppies and white flowers at Wellington Arch, Hyde Park Corner in London.  The message on the wreath read: “In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.” He wore a red poppy during the service, and bowed briefly to the wreath before standing in silent tribute for a few moments.

Naman Ramachandran Canadian streaming service Crave has partnered with Pier 21 Films on eight-part series “Late Bloomer,” created by and starring Jasmeet Singh Raina, also known as Jus Reign. The series is inspired by Raina’s life as a Punjabi Sikh millennial and online celebrity. The show follows burgeoning content creator Jasmeet Dutta as he tries to balance his ambitions for success with his commitment to his family, community and culture. Production is underway in Toronto and Hamilton. As Jus Reign, Raina is a global social media star and was one of Much Digital Studios’ first content creators in 2015. Raina became known for his deadpan comedic style and commentary on race and pop culture and is part of a group of storytellers who charted the way for increased South Asian representation in mainstream media.

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.

Telling it like it is. Scheana Shay broke down her infamous altercation with Raquel Leviss — and addressed rumors husband Brock Davies hooked up with the former beauty prior to her affair with Tom Sandoval. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Veteran Fremantle executive Amelia Brown has been appointed the new CEO of Fremantle U.K., replacing Simon Andreae who abruptly stepped down from the role earlier this week citing health reasons. Brown, who has been with Fremantle for 20 years, is the former managing director of its U.K. label Thames and has been a key creative on trademark Fremantle hit shows as “Britain’s Got Talent” and “The X Factor.” Fremantle in a statement noted that Brown has also been instrumental in strengthening Thames’ slate of programming and expanding the scripted production outfit into the world of reality television with shows like “Too Hot To Handle” for Netflix and upcoming entertainment show “Mamma Mia! I Have a Dream” for ITV. Her successor as MD of Thames will be announced soon.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Oscar-winning French director Luc Jacquet (“March of the Penguins”) will be honored by the Locarno Film Festival with its Locarno Kids Award celebrating a film personality who has brought the magic of movies to younger audiences. “Luc Jacquet’s gaze has followed the perspective of the plant and animal kingdoms through his many voyages to the Antarctic or into forests both remote and close to home,” the Swiss festival dedicated to indie cinema said in a statement. It pointed out that this year’s prize “goes to a filmmaker who has consistently conveyed a powerful ecological message to younger generations of cinema lovers.” The French biologist and filmmaker has made hugely popular nature documentaries such as “Penguins,” watched by more than 25 million people worldwide since its 2006 release, and “Once Upon a Forest” in 2013 and “Ice and the Sky” (2015). He also helmed a fiction feature “The Fox & the Child” (2007).

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”).

After the release of 2017’s “Darkest Hour,” filmmaker Joe Wright was living the dream. His film was nominated for six Oscars (winning two), and it appeared he was going to enter the conversation as one of the best filmmakers working today.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent BBC and NBCUniversal have co-commissioned travel reality competition show “Destination X” from a format that originated in Belgium where it’s become a hit. The format created by Antwerp-based production company Geronimo and distributed globally by Be-Entertainment mixes fantasy and reality within a road trip setting. In “Destination X” 10 contestants board a Destination X Bus with blacked-out blinds. Throughout the trip reality is regularly tweaked to mislead the contestants as well as the viewers at home. At the end of each episode, the contestant who places their X on a map furthest away from the bus’s actual location has to leave the game and loses their shot at winning a cash prize. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Fremantle has appointed British producer Katy Tallon in the newly created role of global sustainability manager. A a clear sign that the company is doubling down on eco-friendly production practices. The super indie owned by German giant RTL has hired Tallon with a mandate to reach Fremantle’s climate objectives by working with production teams across the 27 territories in which Fremantle operates to implement and create a culture of sustainability, the company said in a statement. Fremantle’s stated environmental goal is to become climate neutral by 2030, a target that includes a 50% reduction on absolute emissions from a 2018 baseline, the statement specified.

Harvey Keitel is to star in Sky/Peacock’s upcoming TV adaptation of The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

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.