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A couple of decades ago, Kill Bill became an instant classic in action moviemaking. The Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) movie paid homage to Japanese action films and featured a huge slate of fight sequences – all of them starring Uma Thurman. During an interview to promote her new movie The Old Guard 2, Thurman revealed how demanding her training schedule was in order to prepare for all the action scenes in the movie.

In the two Kill Bill films, The Bride (Thurman) does a little bit of everything. Since she's a professional killer, she has to be ready for any kind of fight. In a Netflix promotional video, her Old Guard 2 co-star Charlize Theron (Fast X) asks how long she trained for Kill Bill, and the answer revealed a grueling training routine that encompassed "three solid months, five days a week, nine to five." Thurman also explained that all of that...

“The Old Guard” is back and Netflix’s new sequel boasts both familiar and new faces.

The series, returning five years after the first film debuted, follows a group of immortals who task themselves with protecting the mortal world from threats while working to keep their long lives as secret as possible for fear of capture and study. The latest film brings back Charlize Theron and introduces new A-listers into the mix like Uma Thurman.

Here’s a who’s who the cast and characters to know in “The Old Guard 2.”

Charlize Theron in “The Old Guard 2” (Netflix) Charlize Theron as Andy

Charlize Theron plays Andy, one of the oldest of her kind and the leader of her group of immortal do-gooders, who is no longer immortal herself as of the end of the first film.

Theron’s filmography is wide-ranging. She won an Oscar for her role in 2003’s “Monster.

Exclusive: Mubi has acquired rights to Hal & Harper, the acclaimed indie TV series from actor-filmmaker Cooper Raiff (Cha Cha Real Smooth), for streaming in the U.S. and France, on the heels of its premiere at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The eight-episode family drama, co-starring Lili Reinhart and Mark Ruffalo, will premiere exclusively on the service this fall.

Lionsgate financed the series, handled the sale and distributes it worldwide.

This marks another win for independently produced television at a time when the business model is still being tested. Other recent examples of indie series that have gone on to significant streaming deals include Shane Gillis’ hit comedy Tires, which just returned for a second season, as well as Mark Duplass’ Penelope, both of which wound up at Netflix.

Hal & Harper marks the latest acquisition in a notable expansion into series this year for Mubi, following recent acquisitions...

Jim Jarmusch’s comedy drama Father Mother Sister Brother is headed to Venice competition, according to Mubi founder Efe Cakarel.

Cakarel revealed the film was to feature in competition during keynote speech today (June 6) at SXSW London, telling audiences it is “already confirmed”.

Jarmusch’s film, on which Mubi is a producer, is an anthology of three stories starring Cate Blanchett, Adam Driver and Vicky Krieps, which shot last year across the US, France and Ireland. It follows estranged siblings that reunite after years apart. The Match Factory represents sales.

Production companies are Saint Laurent Prods, Mubi and the Apartment...

This is Mubi’s time. With studio specialty divisions almost a relic of the past and international and independent cinema soaring on the awards stage, the arthouse mini-studio founded by Efe Cakarel is cutting a growing swathe across the film landscape. Mubi is back on the Cannes Croisette with three films in Competition and another in Un Certain Regard.

Director Luca Guadagnino, a previous collaborator, is one of the company’s many fans in high places: “Mubi is a great and passionate company,” he says. “They will grow a lot as a business.”

Eye-catching growth has certainly been a hallmark of the company’s last few years.

Jason Ropell

Former investment banker and MIT graduate Cakarel founded the London-based company — then known as The Auteurs — back in 2007. These days, the headcount stands at more than 400 globally across 14 offices. And Cakarel believes that Mubi can become “many times its current size” in coming years.

"The world as we know it is no longer working." Mubi has revealed their teaser trailer for the series now titled Mussolini: Son of the Century in English, originally listed as M. Son of the Century (aka M: Il figlio del secolo in Italian) when it first premiered. We've been tracking this since it popped up at the 2024 Venice Film Festival last year as one of their series premieres. Mubi will be debuting the series streaming in the US later in 2025. Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Antonio Scurati, winner of the Premio Strega. Featuring a techno soundtrack by Tom Rowlands, part of The Chemical Brothers. "You can play with the aesthetics and the form of the piece... And the aesthetics are a kind of mashup between '90s rave culture and Man with a Movie Camera [1929 seminal avant-garde doc], a great Ukrainian film. It's Man with a Movie...

Joe Wright’s buzzy eight-part drama series “Mussolini: Son of the Century” has finally found a home, as Mubi will be distributing the show on its streaming service later this year. The global distributor and production company has acquired the North American rights for the series, which premiered at the 81st Venice Film Festival; Mubi will also handle the release of the series in Latin America, Belgium, Luxembourg, Turkey, India, and New Zealand in a multi-territory deal with Fremantle.

“Mussolini: Son of the Century” was adapted from Antonio Scurati’s bestselling trilogy of the same name, and charts the rise of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini as he served as Prime Minister of Italy from 1922 to 1943. Luca Marinelli portrays the infamous ruler.

“Pride & Prejudice,” “Darkest Hour,” and “Cyrano” director Wright makes his return to TV more than 20 years after helming 2003 BBC One series “Charles II: The Power and the Passion.

During World War II, European countries other than Germany were also dealing with brutal fascist leaders such as Spain’s General Francisco Franco and Italy’s Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, the two were closely tied to the Nazi regime. The latter is the focus of a new series from Joe Wright called “Mussolini: Son of The Century, which was just picked up by Mubi, who will handle the rights in North America, Latin America, Belguim, New Zealand, Luxembourg, Turkey, and India in a multi-territory deal with Fremantle as it will premiere sometime later this year.

Continue reading ‘Mussolini: Son Of The Century’ Teaser Trailer: Joe Wright’s Italian Fascist Series Lands At Mubi at The Playlist.

Mubi has acquired the Joe Wright-directed drama series “Mussolini: Son of the Century” for North America, Latin America, Belgium, Luxembourg, Turkey, India and New Zealand in a multi-territory deal with Fremantle.

Based on Italian author Antonio Scurati’s bestselling novel “M” which traces the birth of Fascism in Italy, the eight-part series reconstructs Mussolini’s ascent with an innovative approach. Luca Marinelli plays the despotic leader during the period between 1919, when he founded the fascist party in Italy, and 1925 when – having gained power with the 1922 March on Rome – Mussolini made an infamous speech in the Italian Chamber of Deputies declaring himself a dictator.

“Mussolini: Son of the Century” launched last year from the Venice Film Festival where Wright called the show a “howl against the current rise of the Far-Right.” It subsequently played to positive notice on Sky in Italy and the U.K.

“This series was a chance...

Arthouse streamer Mubi has acquired Joe Wright’s acclaimed period drama series Mussolini: Son of the Century from Fremantle for multiple territories, including North America.

Luca Marinelli (The Eight Mountains, The Old Guard) plays the titular tyrant in the scarily prescient story, adapted from the documentary novel by Antonio Scurati, about Mussolini’s rise to power and the birth of fascism in Italy.

“This series was a chance to explore how charisma and chaos can coexist in a single man—and how that dangerous combination can reshape a nation,” Joe Wright said in a statement. “Luca Marinelli brings Mussolini’s volatility and magnetism to terrifying life. It was a privilege to work with such an extraordinary team on a story that feels both historical and disturbingly timeless.”

Mubi also snatched up rights to Mussollini in Latin America, Belgium, Luxembourg, Turkey, India and New Zealand in the multi-territory deal with Fremantle,...

The millennial urge to revisit one's youth is being satisfied in recent months, with a string of theatrical re-releases designed to facilitate just that. This weekend, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith delivered a haul so massive that it could put new releases to shame. In fact, the film's 20th anniversary re-release outperformed Ben Affleck's The Accountant 2, which made $38 million worldwide as compared to Revenge of the Sith's $42 million haul. But a week before that, Focus Features re-released Pride & Prejudice in celebration of its 20th anniversary, generating about as much as the movie did in its original opening weekend back in 2005.

After 10 days in theaters, Pride & Prejudicehas grossed over $5 million at the domestic box office, taking its domestic haul past the $40 million mark, and its global haul past the $130 million milestone. Directed by Joe Wright, the movie made stars of Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen,...

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. So we’re going to do the hard work for you.

Global Breakouts hasn’t visited Spain for nearly two years and we felt it was high time we returned… And who better to speak with than Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, the co-creator of Querer, which just scooped the biggest prize going at Series Mania. Querer follows a woman whose life is turned upside down when she accuses her husband of rape and files criminal charges. Movistar Plus+’s searing factual drama has been generating plenty interest outside of Spain.

Name: Querer

Country: Spain

Producers: Movistar Plus+,...

Spanish marital drama Querer was awarded the International Competition grand prize at the 2025 Series Mania festival on Friday night (March 28) in Lille, France.

Created by Alauda Ruiz de Azua, Eduard Sola and Julia de Paz, the series is broadcast, co-produced and sold by Movistar Plus+ and centres on a family grappling with accusations of marital rape. The producers are Kowalski Films, Feelgood Media and Moviestar Plus+ and Arte is broadcasting in France.

The International Competition jury, presided over by US actress, screenwriter, producer and director Pamela Adlon, also gave its writing award to Moshe Zonder and Ronit Weiss Berkowitz for...

Spanish family drama Querer took top prize at this year’s Series Mania television festival in Lille, winning best series in the international competition.

The show from the Spanish pay-tv network Movistar Plus+ follows a woman who leaves her marriage after 30 years and makes criminal allegations against her husband, forcing their two adult sons to choose who they believe.

The international Series Mania jury, led by Pamela Adlon, gave the best actress honor to Lili Reinhart for the Cooper Raiff-directed dramedy Hal & Harper and the best actor prize to Luca Marinelli for his lead role in Joe Wright’s political biopic Mussolini: Son of the Century.

Moshe Zonder and Ronit Weiss Berkowitz took best writing for Lionsgate production The German. European political drama The Deal received a special mention from the international jury.

The audience award, voted on by festival attendees, went to Quebecois series Empathy.

In the French competition,...

Lili Reinhart has scooped the top acting prize at Series Mania for Hal & Harper, Cooper Raiff’s indie TV series in which she stars opposite Mark Ruffalo.

The Riverdale star won Best Actress, while Best Actor went to Italy’s Luca Marinelli, who plays Benito Mussolini in Sky’s Mussolini: Son of the Century. At a ceremony in Lille this evening, the Grand Prize was awarded to Spanish series Querer and Best Writing went to to Lionsgate and yes TV’s The German, which had its screening disrupted by protests earlier this week.

Reinhart is the second consecutive American woman to win the top Series Mania prize following Annette Bening, who took it home last year for Peacock’s Apples Never Fall. In Hal & Harper, she plays one of the titular characters opposite Raif, who try to preserve their childhood, even though their single father, played by Ruffalo,...

There are few better places than Series Mania’s industry Forum to gauge the mood of the scripted TV industry. For three concentrated days this week, execs from the international TV business gathered in Lille to talk business, scout for shows and to swapideas.

Screendistillsthe key conversation points from the 2025 edition.

Stability returns – but the market has shrunk

Peak TV is very much over: globally, scripted TV orders are running about 25% below the peak TV era, Ampere Analysis said in a Series Mania presentation. But there is a newfound stability in the series market, which has levelled out after the...

For Pamela Adlon, starting to watch a new show can be a treacherous thing.

“I have Ocd so if I start something, I’m screwed. I know I’ve got to see this through,” the multi-hyphenate explained, kicking off the jury press conference for this year’s Series Mania.

Adlon, a multiple-Emmy nominee for her writing and acting work on FX’s Better Things and Louie, has been binging on some the best in global TV as head of of the international jury at the international television festival, which runs through March 28 in Lille, France. She joined her fellow jurors — Downton Abbey and Better Call Saul director Minkie Spiro, award-winning French actress Karin Viard (The Bélier Family, Polisse), U.S.-Argentine actor Ignacio Serricchio (Bones, The Young and the Restless), and French musician and composer Victor Le Masne — to talk up the small screen highlights of this year’s competition.

International series do not lack scale and ambition.

The lineup of this year’s Series Mania, the TV festival and industry meet that runs through March 28 in Lille, France, includes historic epics like Joe Wright’s rise-to-fascism biography Mussolini: Son of The Century, real-life action thriller Kabul, which traces the fall of Afghan capital to the Taliban in 2021, and Liongate’s spy drama The German, from the creators of Fauda and Tehran, about Holocaust survivors recruited to track down Nazi war criminals.

Add to that the screenings at the festival’s upfront event, held Monday, March 24, where top-tier buyers get a sneak peek at upcoming international series. The 10 featured upfront shows include German fantasy epic War of the Kingdoms, Korean sci-fi series S Line and Swiss thriller The Deal, starring The Broken Circle Breakdown star Veerle Baetens as a diplomat tasked with brokering last-chance nuclear negotiations between the U.S.

Exclusive: Dark star Oliver Masucci didn’t know what he was getting in for when he signed up for The German, Lionsgate and Yes TV’s Israeli series about the hunt for Josef Mengele.

While filming on the show was distressing enough given its heavy subject matter, Masucci tells us he felt “co-traumatized” by the Israel-Hamas war that was raging around him as cameras rolled. On some days, as many as 40 to 60 rockets were dropped during production and the team were forced to spend lots of time in bomb shelters, Masucci explained.

“The inner movement and inner world of [The German’s main character] Uri, who is also a traumatized person, is conflicted because he wants to put everything away and move forward with his life,” said Masucci on the eve of The German’s Series Mania premiere. “But you get co-traumatized while you’re there and start acting like the Israelis. I tried to...

With the television industry continuing its painful transition from the peak TV era, it’s perhaps a surprise that Series Mania is expecting more international executives than ever to attend its 2025 edition, running March 21-28.

Laurence Herszberg founded the event in 2010 with some 250 industry attendees. This year, organisers are expecting around 4,500 accredited professionals in Lille, up 5% from last year, and 84 exhibitors at the industry-focused Forum, 25% more than last year.

Despite a global tightening of budgets and Series Mania taking place just weeks after Mip London and the London Screenings, organisers say they have seen no slowdown in the quality or...

With the television industry continuing its painful transition from the peak TV era, it’s perhaps a surprise that Series Mania is expecting more international executives than ever to attend its 2025 edition, running March 21-28.

Laurence Herszberg founded the event in 2010 with some 250 industry attendees. This year, organisers are expecting around 4,500 accredited professionals in Lille, up 5% from last year, and 84 exhibitors at the industry-focused Forum, 25% more than last year.

Despite a global tightening of budgets and Series Mania taking place just weeks after Mip London and the London Screenings, organisers say they have seen no slowdown in the quality or...

Unifrance has unveiled its extensive lineup for the 15th edition of Series Mania, set for March 21 to 28. This year, the festival will showcase a selection of 48 series from 20 countries, including 22 French shows, promising a feast for the eyes of TV enthusiasts and industry professionals alike.

The Series Mania Forum, the festival’s industry component, will run March 25 to 27, welcoming over 4,200 professionals from more than 70 countries. In this context, Unifrance will host the tenth Coming Next from France on March 25, spotlighting five new French series poised to make waves on the international market. These series, including France TV’s “Kitchen Hustle,” Have a Good One’s “Fake,” Mediawan Rights’ “Don’t Know,” Newen Connect’s “Montmartre” and Oble’s “Jailbreakers,” have been selected to demonstrate the diversity and innovation of French scripted TV.

Produced by CG Cinema, “Kitchen Hustle” turns on three women who dream of working in high-end dining but encounter an elitist,...

French TV festival and industry event Series Mania has unveiled the line-up for its 2025 edition, which runs from March 21-28 in Lille.

Apple TV+’s French-language drama series Carême about the world’s first celebrity chef from The Three Musketeers director Martin Bourboulon starring Benjamin Voisin will open the festival that will feature 26 world premieres and 12 international premieres from 19 countries including new territories Brazil and Algeria.

Nine series have been selected for the international festival competition.

These include Israeli-American series The German about the 1970s hunt for Nazi criminals and European co-production Kabul about the Western scramble in 2021 Afghanistan.

Family-focused...

French TV festival and industry event Series Mania has unveiled the line-up for its 2025 edition, which runs from March 21-28 in Lille.

Apple TV+’s French-language drama series Carême about the world’s first celebrity chef from The Three Musketeers director Martin Bourboulon starring Benjamin Voisin will open the festival that will feature 26 world premieres and 12 international premieres from 19 countries including new territories Brazil and Algeria.

Nine series have been selected for the international festival competition.

These include Israeli-American series The German about the 1970s hunt for Nazi criminals and European co-production Kabul about the Western scramble in 2021 Afghanistan.

Family-focused...

Amanda Seyfried and Happy Valley alums James Norton and Sally Wainwright will be adding a dose of star power to this year’s Series Mania, while Pamela Adlon is to head up the jury.

Seyfried will attend promoting her Peacock series Long Bright River, which is having its French premiere in the international competition. In Long Bright River, which is based on the Liz Moore novel, Seyfried plays a Philadelphian police officer who works in a neighborhood with high drug use where a series of murders take place.

Long Bright River is in the international competition alongside the likes of Cooper Raiff’s Hal & Harper, with Raiff set to attend, Joe Wright’s Mussolini: Son Of The Century and Israel-America’s The German from Yes Studios.

The jury for these shows will be led by Emmy winner and Better Things star Pamela Adlon. The jury will consist of Victor Le Masne...

French festival Series Mania has revealed its lineup, featuring Joe Wright’s “Mussolini: Son of the Century,” “Querer,” a huge hit at San Sebastián, “Empathy” and “Hal & Harper.”

Amanda Seyfried will present “Long Bright River,” while Pamela Adlon is set to deliver a masterclass. Adlon will also preside over the International Competition jury.

Denmark’s “Generations” will celebrate its world premiere at the fest, as well as “Kabul,” “The Deal” and “The German.”

In the International Panorama Competition, Trine Dyrholm will introduce “The Danish Woman.” She’ll be joined by other world premieres “A Life’s Worth,” “Raul Seixas: Let Me Sing” and “Reunion”. “Requiem for Selina,” “At the End of the Night,” “Celeste,” “Family Matters” and “Putain” will also be shown, as well as “What it Feels Like for a Girl.”

Among other highlights, “Carême” (Apple TV+) starring Jérémie Rénier and Lyna Khoudri, will open the festival. “Hpi” will close it,...

Today, Apple TV+ shared a first look at Carême, the upcoming French-language drama starring César Award winner Benjamin Voisin, César Award nominee Jérémie Renier, César Award winner Lyna Khoudri and Alice Da Luz.

The series is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Bourboulon. Carême will make its global debut on Apple TV+ on April 30, 2025, with the first two episodes, followed by one episode weekly every Wednesday through June 11, 2025.

Carême follows the thrilling story of the world’s first celebrity chef, Antonin Carême (Voisin), who rose from humble beginnings in Paris to the height of culinary stardom in Napoleon’s Europe.

While he dreams only of becoming the most famous chef in the world, his talent and ambitions attract the attention of renowned and powerful politicians who use him as a spy for France.

Determined to escape poverty and fulfill his dream, Carême can choose revenge, or he can have it all — women,...

M. Son of the Century, which premieres on Sky in the U.K. on Feb. 4, covers a span of time in the life of Benito Mussolini, the founder of fascism. It ranges from his early years, when he was still a journalist who had just left the Socialist Party, to the murder, by Mussolini’s fascist forces, of socialist politician Giacomo Matteotti, a killing that helped pave his rise to power. Italian star Luca Marinelli (The Old Guard, The Eight Mountains) embodies the infamous populist in the new series, adapted by screenwriters Stefano Bises and Davide Serino from Antonio Scurati’s historical novel. British filmmaker Joe Wright (Atonement, Darkest Hour), who knows his way around a historical epic, directs.

The dark and handsome Marinelli underwent a complete transformation, to play the brutish, balding Mussolini. He is unrecognizable. Throughout the 8-episode series, the Italian actor constantly breaks the fourth wall, speaking directly to the audience.

British director Joe Wright, who helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour,” is at the Venice Film Festival with another historical piece, high-end TV drama “M. Son of the Century.” The series chronicles Benito Mussolini’s rise to power and is particularly timely as populist leaders are sprouting up all over the world.

Based on Italian author Antonio Scurati’s eponymous bestselling novel which traces the birth of Fascism in Italy, “M” reconstructs Mussolini’s ascent with an innovative approach. Luca Marinelli plays the despotic leader during the period between 1919, when he founded the fascist party in Italy, and 1925 when – having gained power with the 1922 March on Rome – Mussolini made an infamous speech in the Italian Chamber of Deputies declaring himself a dictator.

“M” is produced by Sky Studios and Lorenzo Mieli for Fremantle-owned The Apartment Pictures in collaboration with Pathé and Small Forward. The show, which was largely shot at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios,...

As expected, Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux will make its debut in competition at the Venice Film Festival.

The Venice Film Festival line-up was announced earlier today. We won’t bore you with the entire list of the titles on show – you can find that here. But suffice it to say, the line-up is full of indie darlings as well as plenty of mainstream filmmakers bringing their latest projects to the world’s oldest film festival.

One of the biggest titles heading to the Lido is Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux. In 2019, Joker won the Golden Lion to everyone’s surprise, starting the film’s unlikely but hugely successful awards run which culminated in two Oscars.

The sequel is debuting in the festival’s prestige competition line-up, meaning it’s up for the Golden Lion again. If it were to win it, it would be the first time...

Viaplay Results: Focus On Core Ops Working Slowly

Viaplay’s focus on doing what it does best willed out in its latest quarterly results, with total turnover down slightly but turnover in core operations increasing by a similar margin. Since the exit of former CEO Anders Jensen amidst financial turmoil last year, the Scandi outfit has been focused on making far less original content and supercharging sports rights. Today, Q2 turnover was shown to have declined a smidgeon to SEK4.49B ($424M), while core turnover rose by a similar amount to SEK4.29B. In further signs of green shoots a year on from Jensen’s departure, operating income, while still in the red, was only minus SEK70M, compared to minus SEK273M in Q2 2023. Jensen’s replacement as CEO, Jørgen Madsen Lindemann, said “our focused focused work to retransform Viaplay Group is progressing, with substantial changes being made across the business,...

Sky Italia celebrated its 20-year anniversary on Tuesday by announcing a rich slate of upcoming originals, including a second season of the Italian adaptation of “Call My Agent,” which will see “The White Lotus” star Sabrina Impacciatore joining the cast.

Impacciatore’s agent is Gersh and her management is Mgmt.

The Sky Italia originals slate comprises previously announced high-end drama “M. Son of the Century” by British director Joe Wright, alongside less lavish shows in various stages – most of which have international potential. It underscores how the Italian unit of the Comcast-owned pay-tv service continues to be a major Italian industry driver.

While Sky’s German unit, which is believed to be up for sale, has put production on pause, Sky Italia is cranking out Italian originals through the platform’s Sky Studios unit at a steady pace, showing no signs of a slowdown.

“We are at the level...

Nicola Maccanico with Anne-Katrin Titze on current Cinecittà productions: “Joe Wright, Roland Emmerich and Luca Guadagnino.” Photo: Sally Fischer

I met with Nicola Maccanico to discuss the significant expansion of Cinecittà Studios under his leadership on the morning of the Open Roads: New Italian Cinema luncheon at The Leopard at des Artistes, attended by The Hummingbird (Il Colibrì) director Francesca Archibugi, Tommaso Ragno, Margherita Mazzucco (star of Susanna Nicchiarelli's Chiara and Saverio Costanzo’s My Brilliant Friend), directors Michele Vannucci (Delta), Niccolo Falsetti (Margins), Monica Dugo, and Fireworks (Stranizza d’Amuri)) director Giuseppe Fiorello with his stars Gabriele Pizzurro and Samuele Segreto.

Nicola Maccanico on Luca Guadagnino: “Bones and All! His last movie, I think is a masterpiece.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Inside Film at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater, Nicola joined me for a conversation on the robust state of Italian cinema and the current international productions going on at Cinecittà,...

Apple TV+ will be tapping into France’s lavish culinary heritage with “Carême,” a new original series about the world’s first celebrity chef, Antonin Carême, which will be directed by Martin Bourboulon (“The Three Musketeers: d’Artagnan”).

Set in the 19th century, the eight-episode French drama will chart the sprawling story of Carême, who rose from humble beginnings in Paris to the height of culinary stardom in Napoleon’s Europe. He not only became an iconic chef, he also became a spy for France as his talent and ambitions attracted the attention of powerful politicians, including Napoleon. The series will shed light on the miserable reality of 19th century kitchens, contrasting with the opulence of the mansions and sophisticated of aristocrats.

“Carême” will be led by a starry French cast, including Benjamin Voisin, the Cesar-winning actor of “Lost Illusions” and “Summer of 85″ in the title role. Voisin will star opposite...

British director Joe Wright, who helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour” – which earned Gary Oldman an Oscar for his portrayal as the British prime minister – has now changed historical sides.

Wright is at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios shooting high-end TV drama “M. Son of the Century” which chronicles Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. A timely tale because, as he puts it: “Populist leaders are sprouting up all over the world.”

Aesthetically, the show will be “quite outlandish” with deeply saturated colors, punctuated by a “kind of techno score,” the director said during a recent set visit. Though “It’s not told in a vérité style,” Wright pointed out that “All the facts of what happened, they’re all there.”

Luca Marinelli plays Mussolini during the period between 1919, when he founded the fascist party in Italy, and 1925 when – having gained power with the 1922 March on Rome – Mussolini made an infamous...

The camera pans upwards. We see a balcony and a sliver of a window. A voice calls “Action!” Luca Marinelli emerges, dressed as Benito Mussolini. He looks down on the street below. Suddenly, he turns to the camera and speaks directly to the audience, the image of charm and seduction: “I’ve always loved dogs,” he quips.

This scene sums up the essence of M. Son of the Century, the new eight-episode limited series, directed by Joe Wright (Atonement, Darkest Hour) and produced by Sky Studios and Lorenzo Mieli’s Fremantle-owned The Apartment Pictures, in collaboration with Pathé and Small Forward. The series may be, as Nils Hartmann, executive vp of Sky Studios Italy and Germany says, repeatedly, the “largest and most ambitious” project the Comcast-owned studio is working on, but what stands out is the show’s unique tone and rhythm. The story of the rise of...

Speaking at a panel organized by Series Mania’s Forum, executives from Sky Studios touted flexibility and autonomy as their keys to success, teasing further synergies with fellow Comcast-owned services like Peacock and SkyShowtime while emphasizing that such broadcast bids were but one option among many.

“[We take things] very case-by-case,” said Meghan Lyvers, director of original drama at Sky Studios U.K. “Not all projects that we develop as Sky Originals in Europe will go into the SkyShowtime cluster of territories, [but] they can. And we [welcome] this flexibility, because it allows projects to come to us with other territories attached.”

Prompted by Variety’s Manori Ravindran, and flanked onstage by colleagues Nils Hartmann, Tobias Rosen and Sonia Rovai from Sky Studios Germany and Italy, Lyvers accented Sky Studios’ wider commissioning activities, saying: “This is the team that develops, commissions, or buys series, and then [either] makes or programs them on Sky as Sky Originals.

Exclusive: HBO is developing a series adaptation of nonfiction book Empty Mansions, about a wealthy recluse.

The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned premium network is working on the project with The Ticket filmmaker Ido Fluk, Atonement and Darkest Hour director Joe Wright and The Mosquito Coast producer Fremantle.

The story follows Huguette Clark, an elderly, fabulously wealthy recluse who is hospitalized for a number of seemingly minor ailments and a series of events is set into motion regarding her fortune and an unsigned will.

Fluk will write and exec produce, Wright will direct the potential pilot and exec produce alongside Fremantle.

At the Rtl-owned producer and distributor, the project comes from Dante Di Loreto, President of Scripted Programming in the U.S. Di Loreto, in fact, previously worked closely with Ryan Murphy, exec producing series including Glee and American Horror Story. Murphy had optioned the book back in 2014, a year after it was published.

Italian actor Luca Marinelli, who was seen recently in Cannes Jury Prize winner The Eight Mountains, will play Benito Mussolini in Joe Wright’s upcoming series M. Son Of The Century.

The eight-part drama, based on Italian historian and writer Antonio Scurati’s bestselling book M charting the rise of the fascist dictator, starts filming in Rome’s Cinecittà studios this week.

The casting was announced at a presentation of the drama at the Rome Film Festival on Tuesday.

A former Berlinale European Shooting Star, Marinelli won Venice’s Coppa Volpi for best actor in 2020 for his performance in Pietro Marcello’s Jack London adaptation Martin Eden. Other notable credits include They Call Me Jeeg for which he won Italy’s Davide Di Donatello in 2016.

His most recent role was in Belgian director Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandemeersch’s Italian-language drama The Eight Mountains, about the life-long friendship of...

M. Son Of The Century is based on Antonio Scurati’s bestselling novel of the same name.

Sky has ordered an eight-part drama chronicling the rise and fall of Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini from My Brilliant Friend indie The Apartment.

M. Son Of The Century is based on Antonio Scurati’s bestselling novel of the same name and will cover the establishment of Fasci Italiani in 1919 through to Mussolini’s parliamentary speech, following the murder of socialist MP Giacomo Matteotti in 1925.

The Italian-language series will also delve into Mussolini’s personal relationships, including with his wife Rachel, his mistress...