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“Gomorrah,” the gritty Neapolitan mob series that became Italy’s biggest TV export, is back — albeit in a different time frame.

Shooting is set to start in early 2025 in Naples on “Gomorrah – The Series. The Origins,” the hit crime drama’s previously announced origin story that will be directed by Marco D’Amore, the actor who played ruthless central character Ciro Di Marzio on the show.

D’Amore, who previously helmed several episodes of the series as well as a prequel feature film to “Gomorrah” titled “The Immortal” – and subsequently further honed his behind-the-camera chops directing Naples-set movies “Napoli Magica” and “Caracas” – officially announced on Tuesday that he will lead-direct this new project in a video to which Variety has been given exclusive access.

“Today I’m here to tell you that we will finally explore the saga’s origins,” D’Amore says in the video, which can be viewed above.

“The Immortal,” a film prequel to the hit TV series “Gomorrah,” is set for release Thursday on 450 screens in Italy in what its distributors are touting as a unique cross-media experiment.

Helmed by actor-director Marco D’Amore, who plays ruthless central character Ciro Di Marzio on the gritty mob show, “The Immortal” is not just a standalone prequel film, its producers said in Rome on Monday. Instead, the film’s narrative, which crisscrosses in time between Ciro’s origins and his current situation, has been conceived as an essential piece of the puzzle for fans of the show, which is distributed by Germany’s Beta in 190 countries. The film’s storyline connects to the series’ upcoming fifth season, which is expected to air in 2021.

Shot in Naples and Riga, Latvia, “The Immortal” is produced by ITV-owned Cattleya and Sky Italia’s Vision Distribution, in collaboration with Beta Film. The story and...

Chinese distributor Phoenix Entertainment Group has bought all China rights to the Italian comedic drama “The Sweeties” from Germany-based Media Luna New Films.

The movie is the second feature from director Francesco Ghiaccio and stars Valeria Solarino, Vinicio Marchioni and four young newcomers in their acting debut. It deals with issues of bullying and body-shaming through the story of three overweight girls who decide to become synchronized swimming champions after a video of them in their swimsuits embarrasses them online.

It was written by Marco D’Amore, also known for his turn as an actor in the TV series “Gomorrah.” It is distributed in Italy by VisionDistribution. It premiered at the Giffoni Film Festival earlier this year.

Phoenix Entertainment is one of China’s bigger production and distribution companies, and has jointly produced films such as “Wolf Totem” and “This Is Not What I Expected,” the 2017 romantic comedy starring Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhou Dongyu.

Exclusive: Production is under way in Turin, Italy on comedy feature Dolcissime, produced and written by Marco D’Amore, star of hit Italian crime series Gomorrah.

D’Amore produces under his La Piccola Societa banner with Italian stalwart Indiana Production, producers of Helen Mirren-Donald Sutherland comedy The Leisure Seeker. Sky Italia-backed Vision Distribution will release the feature next year.

Script comes from D’Amore and Francesco Ghiaccio with the latter directing. D’Amore, Ghiaccio and Indiana previously collaborated on the director’s 2015 feature debut Un Posto Sicuro.

Pic, whose title translates literally as ‘the sweetest’, follows three overweight girls who decide to tackle their insecurities by teaming up with a former enemy, the leader of the synchronized swimming team, who will train them to take part in a competition.

Starring are established Italian actors Valeria Solarino (Angel Of Evil) — who also has a starring role in Indiana’s...