Netflix Starts Shoot of Ambitious Italian Original ‘The Leopard’ With Deva Cassel in Role Played by Claudia Cardinale in 1963 Original

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “Killers of the Flower Moon” executive producer Niels Juul is in Cannes with several projects based on IP from the vault of Italy’s storied Cecchi Gori movie company that include a remake of the Dino Risi-directed classic “Il Sorpasso” and “Kafka,” a script about the turbulent love life of Franz Kafka by John Briley (“Gandhi”). The IP and some other assets of the movie company that once dominated Italy’s film industry and collapsed in the mid-1990s were acquired late last year by a group of Italian investors under the new management of Rome-based CEO Federico Canfora and U.S-based Javier Balliero Madrid. Madrid is president of the new company, which is backing a partial relaunch of the Cecchi Gori brand, which is behind such Oscar-winners as “Life Is Beautiful,” “Mediterraneo” and “Il Postino.”

Setting off for Buckingham Palace on his bicycle on Coronation day, royal photographer Hugo Burnand was just hours away from taking the official portraits of the newly crowned King Charles and Queen Camilla. But as he cycled through Hyde Park in the sunshine, if he was feeling any nerves ahead of the momentous occasion, he certainly didn’t show it.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian director Gabriele Mainetti, known internationally for genre-bending titles “They Call Me Jeeg” and “Freaks vs. the Reich,” is shooting a kung fu movie set in Rome’s multi-ethnic Piazza Vittorio quarter. Cameras have just started rolling in Rome on Mainetti’s yet-to-be titled third feature that will see him riff on martial arts movie tropes, following his fresh takes on a 1970 Japanese cartoon series in “Jeeg,” and then on the Nazi hunter film genre in “Freaks.”   Vision Distribution will be launching sales on the film at the Cannes Marché du Film.

A big day! Reese Witherspoon was all smiles while celebrating Mother’s Day amid her split from Jim Toth.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Emmy Award-winning director Adam Bernstein (“30 Rock,” “Fargo,” “Better Call Saul”) is set to helm new Prime Video Italy original “Costiera,” an English-language action drama set on Italy’s iconic Amalfi Coast. The high-end show is being co-produced by Amazon Studios and Luca Bernabei for Lux Vide, the prominent Italian company behind financial thriller “Devils” that is owned by Fremantle. Though production on “Costiera” is set to start on location this summer, the international cast is being kept under wraps. Under a highly innovative deal structure, Fremantle will handle global sales on “Costiera” in all territories outside of Italy, France, Spain and Portugal where Amazon is holding on to full exclusive rights.

Fans got a huge surprise while watching Eurovision this weekend – Kate Middleton playing the piano!

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italian producer Luciano Sovena, who was instrumental to bringing early works by several of Italy’s now-prominent auteurs such as Alice Rohrwacher, Luciano Frammartino, and Saverio Costanzo, to the big screen, has died. He was 73. News of Sovena’s sudden death was announced on Sunday by the Rome and Lazio Film Commission Foundation, of which he was president. The cause of death was not disclosed. The foundation paid tribute to Sovena as “A great and generous professional; a friend of Italian cinema,” in a statement. It went on to note that he was “Ironic, ‘simpatico’ and open to everyone.”

The Italian actress is in talks to join the Tim Burton directed Beetlejuice 2, we hear, which starts rolling cameras this month.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent It’s 7:30 a.m. on a sunny May morning in Rome on a side street outside the studios of Italian state broadcaster Rai. A live audience standing behind metal fencing is watching a lithe group of nuns, one with a mustache, who slowly creep out from a row of white closet doors.  They start dancing, hugging and pirouetting to a ballad belted out by a young Tuscan pop singer. Then the dancers, dressed in Catholic sisters garb, begin playing basketball. Welcome to “Viva Rai 2!,” Italy’s answer to America’s morning shows. It’s a local ratings phenomenon conceived and conducted by volcanic Sicilian megastar Rosario Fiorello, who is breathing new life into Italian television at a time when doomsayers are sounding the death knell of public TV around the world.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “The Eight Mountains,” Belgian directors Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch’s Italian-language drama about friendship, mountains and growing up, scored the top prize at Italy’s 68th David di Donatello Awards. Besides winning best picture, the film also scooped statuettes for best non-original screenplay, photography and sound. Given that the directors are not Italian, it was a particularly significant victory for “Mountains,” which was praised as “quietly magnificent” by Variety critic Jessica Kiang. The film, which is currently playing well on the U.S. arthouse circuit, tracks the decades-long friendship between two Italian boys named Pietro and Bruno — one from the city, the other a shepherd boy from the Alps.

BreAnna Bell Shonda Rhimes’ reign continues with her latest win, “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.” The “Bridgerton” prequel series, which opened on May 4, earned 148.28 million hours viewed on the Netflix Top 10 chart during the May 1-7 viewing window, making it the streamer’s most viewed title this week. With its six episodes, the series picked up over 22 million views in its first week.

Carlos Alcaraz is celebrating his 20th birthday in a big way!

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Damien Chazelle will preside over the competition jury of the upcoming Venice Film Festival. The U.S. director is a Venice regular, having opened the Lido event on two occasions, in 2016 with “La La Land” and in 2018 with “First Man.” Damien Chazelle, welcoming Venice’s proposal stated: “For ten days each year this city of the arts, of Tintoretto and Titian and Veronese, becomes a city of cinema, and I am humbled and delighted to be invited to lead this year’s jury. I can’t wait to discover a new crop of great films at the 80th Venice Film Festival.”

Sammi «Sweetheart» Giancola has officially made her return to the franchise by making a surprise appearance at the end of the season 6 finale of . After Paul «Pauly D» DelVecchio, Nicole «Snooki» Polizzi, Michael «The Situation» Sorrentino, Jenni «JWoww» Farley, Vinny Guadagnino, Angelina Pivarnick and Deena Nicole Cortese wrapped up another dramatic trip, the final episode flashes forward to a «few months later,» showing them all gearing up for another vacation. Not only is Ronnie Ortiz-Magro seen returning to the franchise after taking a step back the past few seasons, but Giancola reunites with her former co-stars when she unexpectedly shows up at the house where they're all staying. «Holy sh*t,» Sorrentino says when the front door opens and he sees who comes through it.«Hey, guys, sorry I'm late,» Giancola says to a clearly shocked group. «What the f**k,» DelVecchio shouts as everyone erupts in laughter, before he's later seen talking to the camera. «Is this real? Are you a hologram? Is this A.I.?» But the happy reunion doesn't last long, with the clip showing Giancola already having to defend herself. «Why are you being messy and coming for me?» she asks at one moment, before she is later seen screaming at the dining table.

Queen Charlotte is making its debut on Netflix today!

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Laetitia Casta will soon appear on the big screen as the former wife of an abusive southern Italian man whom she is accused of murdering in the thriller “A Dark Story,” directed by Italy’s Leonardo D’Agostini. In “Dark Story” the French star, whose recent credits include “The Crusade” directed by her husband Louis Garrel, plays Carla (first look image above), the ex-wife of Vito Semeraro, a banker who beat her when they were together and is the father of her three children. She is accused of murdering him a few years after they split up.  Italian sales company True Colours is launching sales in Cannes on this psychological noir that marks the sophomore feature by D’Agostini whose 2019 debut drama “The Champion” – a soccer dramedy about a young male soccer star and a shy academic who becomes his tutor – sold widely via the same outfit. Andrea Carpenzano (“The Champion,” “Boys Cry,” “Chiara”) stars in “Dark Story” alongside Casta.

Taking a trip across the pond! Andrew Shue‘s sons offered a rare glimpse at their father amid his divorce from Amy Robach during the group’s getaway to the U.K.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Netflix on Thursday dropped its Saudi Arabian psychological thriller “The Matchmaker,” which centers on a married IT worker who becomes infatuated with a beautiful intern at his office and ventures into ground that breaks several types of local boundaries. In the film, which is directed by Abdulmohsen Aldhabaan — whose 2019 directorial debut “Last Visit” depicted Saudi’s patriarchal culture — the protagonist (Hussam Alharthy) winds up following the intern (Nour Alkhadra) to an eerie desert resort where a matchmaker (Reem Alhabib) promises men she will pair them with their perfect bride. The basic premise behind “The Matchmaker,” which is produced by disruptive Saudi shingle Telfaz 11, was to make a genre movie that played on the practice of “misyar,” a no-strings attached marriage often done secretly in Saudi society. Under the rules of “misyar” the wife waives conventional marriage rights such as cohabitation and financial support. The practice has been legal in the conservative Muslim kingdom for decades.

Netflix’s Italian drama The Leopard, based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s classic novel, has gone into production and unveiled its cast.

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.