City Venice Showbiz Latest News and Updates

EXCLUSIVE: After a feverish courtship of Francis Coppola between the organizers of the Cannes, Venice and Toronto film festivals, Megalopolis has been locked into a gala premiere slot on the Palais on Friday evening May 17, I’m told. The film will premiere in competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.

Enrique Iglesias’ large family has a new family member. This past April 24th, Iglesias’ younger sister, Ana Boyer, welcomed her third child with Fernando Verdasco. The child is named Martin and has his family incredibly excited.

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Peaky Blinders’ and ‘Gangs of London’ star Joe Cole and ‘True Spirit’ and ‘Titans’ actor Teagan Croft have both just wrapped contemporary neo-noir thriller Override, the fourth feature from directing duo Natasha Merkulova and Alexey Chupov. It marks the English-language debut for the Russian helmers, whose Captain Volkonogov Escaped played in Venice’s Competition strand in 2021.

A new daily charge for UK holidaymakers visiting the popular Italian hotspot of Venice has today been imposed with only certain groups of people exempt from this fee.

EXCLUSIVE: Charades and New Europe Films are joining forces to co-sell Oscar-winning Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes’ long-awaited new feature Orphan, as the production gears up to commence shooting in and around Budapest this June.

EXCLUSIVE: Goodfellas has acquired world sales rights to Romanian actor and director Emanuel Parvu’s thriller Three Kilometers To The End Of The World.

Lise Pedersen Sporting a warm smile and a pair of sunglasses – “Sorry, I’ve been busy editing and my eyes hurt,” he explained – one of China’s leading indie directors Jia Zhangke, whose upcoming film “Caught by the Tides” will be vying for the Palme d’or in Cannes next month, was guest of honor at the 55th edition of Swiss doc festival Visions du Réel this week. Finished just in time for submission to Cannes, the film features his wife Zhao Tao, his muse over the last two decades, and tells the story of a couple spanning 20 years.

—the wife of Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault—who last night attended a pre-opening dinner at the Fondazione Cini dressed in vertiginous platforms and an hourglass gown cut from tendrilous sequins. With those famous proportions perhaps rivaling some of the city’s most stomach-soaring architecture, Hayek—as last week—has managed to align her own image with the might of fine art itself.Salma Hayek in Venice.I do wonder what the more prescriptivist art types—i.e., those who tend to cloak themselves in a more austere sort of look—make of all these famous people in their shimmering sequins posing on step and repeats.

J. Kim Murphy It’s only been six months since the release of Liam Neeson’s last film, which means theaters are overdue for another thriller led by the prolific star. His latest vehicle, “In the Land of Saints and Sinners,” arrives with an unusual distinction: Directed by Robert Lorenz, the film premiered in Venice a month before another Neeson movie, the maligned bomb-threat thriller “Retribution,” hit U.S.

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Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent German director Volker Schlöndorff, who won the Cannes’ Palme d’Or and an Oscar for his 1979 drama “The Tin Drum,” is set to direct a film about how Antonio Vivaldi — the 18th-century Italian composer of “The Four Seasons” — formed what is touted as the world’s first all-female orchestra. Schlöndorff’s still-untitled depiction of this lesser-known aspect of Vivaldi’s career is based on a book by German writer Peter Schneider, which has been adapted for the big screen by Italian scribe Francesco Piccolo (“My Brilliant Friend”) along with the director.

Naman Ramachandran Celebrated Philippines filmmaker Lav Diaz‘s examination of the human condition continues with “Kawalan.” The work-in-progress has been selected for the 22nd Hong Kong — Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), the project market that operates concurrently with FilMart. In the film, Tomas, the old venerable mayor of the remote town of Kawalan, learns that the invading Japanese will set up a garrison there. He organizes willing members in his community to set up a hidden settlement in the middle of the forest, where they can live unaffected by the horrors of war.

Anatomy of a Fall, will not be attending the Oscars this year.The furry friend who has become the unlikely star of the 2024 Oscar campaign season, made his way through the nominees’ luncheon, wooing the likes of Bradley Cooper, Billie Eilish and Ryan Gosling. According to a source at the Neon-distributed film, Messi’s LA appearance was a one-off, meaning that the dog will not be in attendance at the Academy Awards.“All of this attention began at Cannes.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy, where debate over violence against women is currently raging, is celebrating International Women’s Day by becoming the first country to theatrically release “Tatami,” a female empowerment thriller about an Iranian judo fighter that made a splash in Venice and marks the first collaboration by Iranian and Israeli filmmakers. Italy’s BIM Distribuzione is bowing “Tatami” – which is co-helmed by Iranian actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi (“Holy Spider) and Israeli director Guy Nattiv – on 90 local movie screens on Friday as an International Women’s Day special preview at a discounted €3.50 ($3.80) ticket price.

How do you capture Jenne Casarotto? She was at the intersection of theatre, film and television. It all, seemingly, swirled around her.

Jamie Dornan is reflecting on his acting journey while eating the Wings of Death!

Atom Egoyan has revealed that he was so traumatized by the negative reception to his Ryan Reynolds-starring thriller The Captive at the Cannes Film Festival that he will never return again with a film.

EXCLUSIVE: Sofia Carson (Purple Hearts), Kyle Allen (A Haunting in Venice), Sebastian De Souza (Fair Play), and Connie Britton (The White Lotus) have signed on to star in The Life List, a new Netflix rom-com from writer-director Adam Brooks (Definitely, Maybe).

This year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival will feature a masterclass and career retrospective of UK-Irish writer and director Martin McDonagh.

EXCLUSIVE: Following their work together on Ted Melfi’s acclaimed coming-of-age drama St. Vincent, Naomi Watts (Feud: Capote vs. The Swans) and Bill Murray (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) have been set to topline The Friend, an adaptation of Sigrid Nunez’s New York Times bestselling novel, from writer-directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel (Montana Story).

A$AP Rocky is stepping out in style for Milan Fashion Week.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky didn’t let bad weather stop them from exploring Venice during a romantic trip to Italy.

Luc Besson is back in theaters with his first film since 2019’s “Anna.” And from the looks of its new trailer, “DogMan” is another ultra-stylish, semi-deranged action thriller from the French director. But how will it hold up against Besson’s best films like “The Fifth Element,” “Le Femme Nikita,” and “Taken“? Audiences find out when “DogMan” hits theaters next month.

EXCLUSIVE: Josh Close (Killers of the Flower Moon) has signed on to star in American Solitaire, an indie drama marking the first feature from writer-director Aaron Davidman.

“This is a very, very romantic film,” Gael García Bernal said of his Berlin competition title, Another End. 

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s Teresa Cavina has been appointed artistic director of Malta’s Mediterrane Film Festival the second edition of which will run June 22-30 in Valletta, the island’s capital. Cavina, who has over twenty years of experience in programming and artistic director roles at festivals including Locarno, El-Gouna, Rome, Venice and Abu Dhabi, is structuring the Mediterrane fest’s selection in four programming strands: In Competition, featuring films from across the Mediterranean; Out of Competition, featuring films from the rest of the world; Mare Nostrum – ‘Our Sea’, showcasing narrative and documentary films dedicated to sustainability and the environment; and Future Visions – a selection of experimental VR projects.

Luc Besson is now set to venture into epic fantasy territories with one of the most famous big screen characters of all. The French director is to direct an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s’ “Dracula,” telling the story of 15th century Prince Vladimir who cursed God following the death of his beloved wife and is turned into a vampire.

EXCLUSIVE: Alpha Violet has acquired world sales rights for Uruguayan filmmaking duo Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge’s new drama Don’t You Let Me Go, exploring themes of friendship and death.

Salma Hayek is celebrating Valentine’s Day early. To commemorate the month of love and friendship, Hayek shared a video with a compilation of some of her most romantic movies, sharing footage of films alongside some of her most romantic collaborators, like Matthew Perry, Channing Tatum, Russell Crowe, and more. Salma Hayek shares the most Latino advice to overcome sadnessSalma Hayek dances to ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ celebrating Shakira’s birthdayA post shared by Salma Hayek Pinault (@salmahayek)Hayek’s video contained clips of some of her films over the years, including “Ask the Dust,” “Desperado,” “Fools Rush In,” “Some Kind of Beautiful,” “Bliss,” “Magic Mike,” and more, with the song “Starlight” by Dave set in the background.

“Pod Meets World” podcast Monday, the “10 Things I Hate About You” actor said he became “immersed in the culture and the community” of Venice Beach after moving to California in his 20s.“There was this interesting group of hippie types, if you will, in Venice,” Keegan, 45, told hosts Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle.“I’m sure if you went on the west side, there’s definitely a lot of spirituality. I was connected with some folks and we had this opportunity.

Emily Longeretta On the “Pod Meets World” podcast, co-hosts Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Will Friedle have often given their guests — many of whom are actors who grew up on TV in the 90s — the opportunity to debunk any headlines about them. During the Feb. 12 episode, Andrew Keegan was ready to do just that.

A perfect gift for any thrill-seeker this Valentine's Day is a trip to somewhere sunnier than the freezing UK like Spain or Italy.

It’s a weekend of well-reviewed indie openings with Bleecker Street’s Out Of Darkness, The Monk And The Gun (from the directors of Lunana: A Yak In The Classroom) and limited openings for The Taste Of Things, Perfect Days (Best International Feature nominated), Anthony Chen’s Drift, Bas Devos’ Here and Ennio by Giuseppe Tornatore, which premiered in Venice in 2021 and is finally getting a U.S. release.

The couple that works out together stays together, they say, and Joe Manganiello and Caitlin O’Connor have been spotted at the gym together several times!

Alex Ritman Julianne Moore is set to star in “The Room Next Door,” the first full-length English-language feature from Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar. Moore — whose casting was confirmed on Thursday by Almodóvar’s production company El Deseo on social media — joins Tilda Swinton in the film. Swinton previously starred in Almodovar’s 2021 short “The Human Voice.” Swinton’s casting, which Almodóvar’s first spoke about last year, was also confirmed by El Deseo.

Origin” star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor sounds like she’s already moving on from awards season. Instead, she’s focusing on how the film is impacting audiences. When asked what it would mean to hear her name called for her second Academy Award nod, Ellis-Taylor paused to thoughtfully consider her words.