News

The Venice Film Festival will celebrate Italian production designer Paola Comencini with its Campari Passion for Film Award dedicated to film industry figures who, along with the director, contribute to excellence in creating cinematic art.

The long list of feature films and TV series on which Paola Comencini has served as production designer comprises Italy’s smash hit “There’s Still Tomorrow” directed by Paola Cortellesi, groundbreaking TV series “Romanzo Criminale,” and drama “Il tempo che ci vuole,” directed by her sister Francesca Comencini, that will launch from Venice out-of-competition.

The Venice statement described “Il tempo che ci vuole,” which pays homage to their father Luigi Comencini – the Italian master who made Oscar-nominated Cinema Italiano classic “Bread, Love and Dreams,” with Gina Lollobrigida and Vittorio De Sica – as “a film in which the set design is not only a creative and accurate work but an incredible emotional journey.”

“Throughout her lengthy career as an architect,...

“Vanished into the Night” is a Netflix movie starring Riccardo Scamarcio and Annabelle Wallis. It is directed by Renato De Maria

Netflix returns with a plot formula that, although not entirely new, continues to deliver: child abduction and the enduring struggle of parents trying to recover their children. This time, there is no Mel Gibson or Liam Neeson, but the duo of Annabelle Wallis and Riccardo Scamarcio lead this intriguing family thriller revolving around kidnappings.

Vanished into the Night The Plot

The story revolves around a debt-ridden father going through a divorce who has to deal with a kidnapping. The abductors demand 150,000 euros, which the father doesn’t possess, leading him to borrow from an acquaintance. In return, he is forced into a dangerous game of drug trafficking.

About the Film

“Vanished into the Night” is a well-crafted telefilm in the form of a family thriller that depicts parents facing...

The Cannes Film Festival has named the eight members of its main Competition jury who will join previously announced president Greta Gerwig in deciding the Palme d’Or and other key prizes at 77th edition running from May 14 to 25.

They are Turkish screenwriter and photographer Ebru Ceylan, U.S. actress Lily Gladstone, French actress Eva Green, Lebanese director and screenwriter Nadine Labaki, Spanish director and screenwriter J.A. Bayona, Italian actor Pierfrancisco Favino, Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda and French actor and producer Omar Sy.

The wife and long-time collaborator of Nuri Bilge Ceylan, screenwriter and photographer Ceylan co-wrote 2014 Palme d’Or winner Winter Sleep and also took co-writing credits on Cannes selected films Three Monkeys (Best Director Prize 2008), Once upon a time in Anatolia (Grand Prix 2011), The Wild Pear Tree (2018) and About Dry Grasses (2023).

Ceylan also appeared as an actress and took art director credits on her husband’s early films...

“Very beautiful and very challenging.” Those are the first two words that director Stefano Sollima uses to describe his upcoming, four-part Netflix crime series Il Mostro, which has just finished filming. Created by Leonardo Fasoli and Sollima (who also co-produced with Lorenzo Mieli), and produced by The Apartment — a Fremantle company — and AlterEgo Productions, this is a series that has faced titanic challenges. Sollima is no stranger to the crime genre, having directed the so-called Romanzo Criminale (criminal Rome trilogy) — Acab (All Cops Are Bastards), Suburra and Adagio — as well as Soldado the 2018 sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario, and Senza Rimorso (Without Remorse), the 2021 thriller co-written by Taylor Sheridan and based on the book by Tom Clancy. This is all in addition to being the showrunner on the seminal Italian crime series Gomorra and ZeroZeroZero, his ambitious series based on Roberto Saviano’s book about the international drug trade.

Sky Studios Italia has unveiled a restructure and new leadership team on the final day of the Mia Market in Rome.

Sonia Rovai, Senior Director of Scripted Productions, is exiting and moving to Fremantle’s Italian website Wildside, where she is taking on the General Manager role.

From today, Sky’s commissioning, in-house productions, content coordination & development, and promotion & talent management departments will all report directly to Nils Hartmann, EVP of Sky Studios Italia.

Paired with the reorganization have been four promotions, with Devils exec Erica Negri upped to lead the commissioning team, Chiara Cucci helming in-house productions, Emanuele Marchesis heading Sky Studios’ content co-ordination and development and Martina Ceramicola taking on promotion and talent management. Rounding out the Sky Studios Italia team are Ivana Kastratovic, Head of Production Management, and Loredana Di Domenico, Head of Business Affairs, who will also report directly to Hartmann.

“I am proud that our...

Sky Studios is developing prequels to “Gomorrah” and “Crime Novel,” the two widely exported Sky Italia original crime series that are considered Italian TV milestones.

News that Sky and ITV-owned production company Cattleya are looking to reboot these two shows with origin stories was announced as Sky Italia celebrates its 20th anniversary with a big bash in Rome.

Sky Italia first ventured into Italian TV production in 2008 with “Romanzo Criminale,” as “Crime Novel” is known in Italian, which is centered around a real Roman heroin-dealing gang. Besides being a hit in Italy, the story also traveled widely. “Gomorrah” (pictured above), which is based on Roberto Saviano’s bestselling Neapolitan mob exposé, launched in 2014. From the outset, this gritty show brought audiences inside the belly of the real Neapolitan criminal underworld, thanks in part to being shot almost entirely in the actual places it portrays. Besides attaining megahit status in Italy,...

Sky Studios is developing prequel series to Gomorrah and Romanzo Criminale.

The pair of shows are widely regarded to be two of the most successful Italian TV series of all time.

Inspired by Roberto Saviano’s bestseller, the untitled Gomorrah prequel from ITV Studios-backed Cattleya will spotlight the criminal rise of boss Pietro Savastano, from when he was a kid on the streets to becoming the most important and ruthless boss in Naples. Leonardo Fasoli and Maddalena Ravagli will once again work on the screenplay.

Gomorrah ran for five seasons on Sky between 2014 and 2021, totalling 58 episodes, while a 2008 film of the same name was loosely based on the book. The TV show starred the likes of Marco D’Amore, Salvatore Esposito and Fortunato Cerlino.

Meanwhile, Romanzo Criminale – La serie will focus on the years before the rise of the Banda della Magliana criminal organization, as recounted in the two seasons of the original series,...

Italian genre specialist Stefano Sollima – who is known in Hollywood for “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” “Without Remorse” and the TV series “Gomorrah” – is in the Venice competition for the first time with Rome-set crime drama “Adagio.”

This beautifully shot picture features an ensemble cast of Italian A-listers comprising Pierfrancesco Favino (“Nostalgia”), Toni Servillo (“The Great Beauty”), Valerio Mastandrea (“Perfect Strangers”) and Adriano Giannini (“The Ties”). It’s the tale of three old – and once mighty – mobsters searching for redemption in a cutthroat contemporary Rome that is literally burning. They find it in the form of a 16 year old named Manuel who is being blackmailed after venturing too deep in a rotting Roman underworld world that he doesn’t understand.

You often work from books such as “Gomorrah” but this is your original idea. How did it germinate?

“Adagio” – this is no secret – is a gift that I made to myself.

Adagio, as many musicians know, means “slowly” in Italian. That seems to be one of the guiding principles in this epic slow-burn crime thriller from director Stefano Sollima, who’s known for helming the lauded TV series Gomorrah and ZeroZeroZero, as well as taking on Hollywood jobs like the actioners Without Remorse and Sicario: Day of the Soldado.

He certainly has style to boot, and this very Heat-like story, which takes place in parts of Rome rarely seen in mainstream movies, is loaded with ambience, as well as brawny performances by a triumvirate of Italy’s best working actors: Pierfrancesco Favino, Toni Servillo and Valerio Mastandrea. What it lacks, however, is a gripping and original plot, as well as enough dazzling set pieces to make all the late exposition worthwhile.

Premiering in competition in Venice, Adagio will likely be a local hit, with Sollima delivering the kind of Michael Mann...

Production in Italy has boomed in recent years, and so too have budgets and international investment.

Cast an eye over the titles vying for a Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival and one thing stands out – the number of Italian films in the main competition.

Six of the 23 films in the main competition are Italian, an increase from the usual three Italian titles that are programmed in the section. While the step change could be a result of the writers and actors’ strikes leading to fewer US productions making the trip to Venice, each of the selected...

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...

In Italy, Pierfrancesco Favino needs no introduction. At this year’s David di Donatello awards ceremony — Italy’s equivalent of the Oscars — a Favino film was nominated in every major category. A shortlist of the directors he’s worked with — Gabriele Salvatores, Giuseppe Tornatore, Marco Bellocchio, Gianni Amelio, Gabriele Muccino, Ferzan Ozpetek, Mario Martone — reads like a who’s who of Italian cinema.

Internationally, Favino has carved out a second career as a supporting player in Hollywood productions. In Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna, Ron Howard’s Rush and Angels and Demons, or Mark Forster’s World War Z. But his most recent U.S. visit — to this year’s Tribeca Film Festival in New York — was for an Italian film: Andrea Di Stefano’s Last Night of Amore, which screened in competition.

In the gritty police drama, Favino plays the titular Franco Amore, a good cop called...

Exclusive: On the eve of his acting return at the Cannes Film Festival, Johnny Depp has set a buzzy first round of cast for Modi, his first directorial effort in 25 years.

The biopic of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani will be led by Italian star Riccardo Scamarcio (John Wick Chapter 2), Cesar Award winner Pierre Niney (Yves Saint Laurent) and screen icon Al Pacino (The Godfather).

Filming is due to get underway in Budapest this fall and the hot package is being sold at the Cannes market by The Veterans. Additional casting is underway.

Based on a play by Dennis McIntyre and adapted for the screen by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski, the film will tell the story of the famous painter and sculptor Modigliani during his time in Paris in 1916.

The movie will chronicle the life of the Italian artist across a turbulent and eventful 48 hours which sees him on the...

Valentyn Vasyanovych’s “Atlantis,” a dystopian film set in war-torn Ukraine, won the Crystal Arrow Award of the 11th edition of Les Arcs Film Festival.

The film, which won the top prize at Venice’s Horizons section this year, takes place in 2025 in Eastern Ukraine after a ten-year war against Russia which has left the country in ruins. “Atlantis” follows two war veterans, Sergiy (Andriy Rymaruk) and a mate, who are both affected by the war and are living in an abandoned building.

Presided over by the French filmmaker Guillaume Nicloux, the jury was comprised of Santiago Amigorena, the Colombian screenwriter, producer and author, Mélanie De Biasio, the Belgian musician, Nina Hoss, the German actor, Atiq Rahimi, the Afghan director, and Antoine Reinartz, the French actor.

Besides the Cystal Arrow prize, five other kudos were handed out at les Arcs, including the Grand Jury Prize which went to Sarah Gavron’s “Rocks,...

Exclusive: Reign’s Toby Regbo is to star in the third and final season of Italian drama Medici.

The series will air over four nights in a primetime slot on Italian broadcaster Rai from December 2 with Netflix airing it after its domestic launch in early 2020. It will be branded an original Netflix series in the U.S., UK, Ireland, Canada, India and Taiwan.

Regbo will star alongside Daniel Sharman, and Synnøve Karlsen as well as Francesco Montanari and John Lynch, who joins for Medici The Magnificent: Final Season. Elsewhere, Troy: Fall of a City’s Johnny Harris and Bedlam’s Jack Roth form part of the international cast with Callum Blake, Aurora Ruffino and Sebastian De Souza.

Medici The Magnificent: Final Season starts a few months after the infamous Pazzi conspiracy that cost the life of Lorenzo’s brother, and nearly his own. Lorenzo, now a more complex and conflicted character,...

When Cannes refused to show Netflix movies in Competition earlier this year many rolled their eyes. ‘Only in France’, they said. Not so fast, it turns out.

While Venice’s line-up has got most of us salivating, the festival’s warm embrace of Netflix – the streaming giant has a record six movies on the Lido, including three in Competition – has stirred up unexpected tension in the local biz.

Italy’s two largest exhibition trade bodies, Anec and Anem, were first to sound the alarm, on Tuesday criticizing day-and-date streaming and Venice chief Alberto Barbera for including a movie that will show on Netflix soon after its festival debut. Cinemas unhappy about Netflix? ‘Plus ça change’, many probably thought.

But in a sign that Italian frustration over the issue extends beyond the exhibition sector, on Wednesday the 500-strong National Association Of Italian Filmmakers added their voice of discontent into the mix.

Matthew Byrd Feb 15, 2018

Stefano Sollima is in talks to direct the long-awaited adaptation of Call Of Duty for the big screen...

Variety is reporting that Stefano Sollima, director of Sicario 2: Solado, is in talks to direct the planned film adaptation of the Call Of Duty franchise. 

Multiple sources have reportedly informed Variety that Activision Blizzard Studios - the film and television division of Activision Blizzard - are currently negotiating with Sollima in the hopes that he will sign-on to the project. However, no representative from Activision Blizzard Studios will confirm that the studio is in negotiations with the director at this time. 

Aside from Sicario 2 - which is expected to release this summer - Sollima has mostly worked as a television director on series like Gomorrah, Romanzo Criminale, and Crimes. His filmography includes the crime epic Suburra and the police story A.C.A.B. He's known as a capable noir and crime director,...

In its latest acquisition, ITV Studios has taken a majority stake in Italian indie Cattleya, the production company behind Gomorrah and Romanzo Criminale. Based in Rome, Cattleya was launched in 1997 by founder Riccardo Tozzi who was joined by President and Co-ceo Giovanni Stabilini and Co-ceo Marco Chimenz. Cattleya will retain full creative and production autonomy with ITV Studios Global Entertainment distributing its series where rights are available. Financial details…...

[Editor’s Note: The following contains mild spoilers for the seventh season premiere of ABC’s “Scandal.”]

In the opening sequence of “Watch Me,” the “Scandal” Season 7 premiere, Olivia Pope marches through the halls of the West Wing to the beat of Tone-Loc’s “Funky Cold Medina.” Her stride communicates without words what Olivia will, in the episode’s final moments, vocalize without hesitation: She is the boss, and she is always right.

“Scandal,” created by Shonda Rhimes, has only been off the air for a few months following the Season 6 finale, in which Olivia not only secured her position as President Mellie Grant’s (Bellamy Young) chief-of-staff but became the head of spy organization B613.

To be clear, she was not being held up as a role model by the premiere; instead, while she manages to avoid doing anything completely evil, Olivia’s storyline seems focused on how her newfound power will affect her on every level. Indeed, in “Watch Me” she becomes legitimately terrifying. The...

[Editor’s note: Light spoilers for the premiere episode of “Kevin (Probably) Saves the World” follow.]

The new shows that make up the bulk of the fall broadcast TV season fall into pretty obvious categories: military drama (“The Brave”), medical drama (“The Good Doctor”), family comedy/annual expansion of the Chuck Lorre empire (“Young Sheldon”).

And then there’s “Kevin (Probably) Saves the World,” the ABC drama airing Tuesday nights, which doesn’t fit neatly into any box in particular. The official synopsis, per ABC:

Kevin Finn (Jason Ritter) is not a good person. He’s not terrible, but he’s selfish, and clueless, and values material wealth and status over all else. And he’s beginning to realize that those things aren’t making him happy – in fact, he’s fairly miserable. Just when things seem to be at their worst, he finds himself tasked with an unbelievable mission… saving the world…

A series of fantastic events, including a meteorite landing near the house, lead...

[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from the first two episodes of “The Good Doctor,” titled “Burnt Food” and “Mount Rushmore,” respectively.]

Executive producer David Shore, who had famously created “House,” has shifted to a very different medical drama with ABC’s “The Good Doctor.” “There’s an honest, unabashed emotionality to this show that I think is very refreshing,” said Shore in an interview with Indiewire. “It will make you cry in an unembarrassed way.”

“The Good Doctor” is an American remake of the South Korean drama of the same name by Jaebeom Park. As many fans of k-dramas know, the shows are high on emotion, melodrama, and sometimes even tragedy, and the original series’ first episode, which can be watched for free on DramaFever, is the source of most of the most fraught and sentimental moments in ABC’s adapted pilot — from the abusive childhood and the loss of his pet rabbit and older brother, to surgical resident Shaun Murphy’s (Freddie Highmore) big speech at the end, holding onto...

[Editor’s Note: The following review contains spoilers for the “Rick and Morty” Season 3 finale, Episode 10, “The Rickchurian Mortydate.”]

When the logline for “The Rickchurian Mortydate,” the Season 3 finale of “Rick and Morty,” was released, there was plenty of speculation that what the president referenced in the episode description would be Evil Morty, the mastermind revealed at the end of “The Ricklantis Mixup.” A more mythology-obsessed show might have gone that route, building on the success of the season’s standout episode and threading together the C-137 timeline with the consequences of Rick and Morty’s actions in the broader multiverse.

That “Rick and Morty” instead said farewell to Season 3 with an unexpectedly self-contained musing on the nature of obligation and family doesn’t make the show any less ambitious. But it does indicate a show segueing briskly into its offseason, wrapping up some thematic loose ends in a way that didn’t outdo its Season 3 predecessors, but still gave viewers plenty to latch onto, visually and philosophically.

Read...

[Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from the Season 3 premiere of “Poldark.”]

For Season 3, “Poldark” had to pull itself out of the mire of bitterness and betrayal that plagued the end of last season, when the series’ hero tarnished his sterling character with infidelity. The central romance suffered as a result, and still stings in the hearts of both his faithful spouse and viewers.

And for the most part, it does appear that Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) is keeping his word to his wife Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) this season, although a shadow cools their once sizzling-hot romance. The season begins several months since last season, enough time for his old flame and one-night affair Elizabeth (Heida Reed) to be ready to pop out a baby any second. And while the passage of time has allowed Ross and Demelza to reconnect, it has only allowed toxicity to bloom in Elizabeth. Not only is she still angry at Ross for bedding and then jilting her,...

No, Ryan Gosling doesn’t have a meth detour in this episode of “Saturday Night Live,” but in terms of coming back strong, you could probably do a better job than get someone who can’t make it through a sketch without breaking. Yes, this is one of those episodes. Specifically, a first-day-of-school type episode where — all of a sudden — the class hottie decides he’s going to be the class clown. He’s not particularly good at the transition, but you want him to like you, so you laugh at his jokes. As he also laughs at his jokes. It’s not like they’re offensive or anything, they’re just… Well, you’ve read better jokes on a popsicle stick. And some of his jokes are just misremembered jokes from those same popsicle sticks.

This is all still just the first day of school.

Simply put: The “Saturday Night Live...

Netflix has ordered Störst av Allt (Quicksand), its first Swedish original series based on the bestselling novel by Malin Persson Giolito, with The Bridge writer Camilla Ahlgren set to pen the adaptation. Voted Nordic Crime Novel of the year in 2016, Störst av Allt (Quicksand) centers around a mass shooting that takes place at a prep school in Stockholm's wealthiest suburb, and a normal high school student, Maja Norberg, who finds herself on trial for murder. When the…...

Crime novel The Blank Wall by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding. While her husband is away during World War II, housewife Lucia Holley – the sort of “Everywoman” who looks great in a two-piece bathing suit – does whatever it takes to protect the feeling of “normality” in her bourgeois, suburban household. The Blank Wall is a classic depiction of an attempted cover-up being much more serious than the actual crime. Sound bites: Remembering the classic crime novel 'The Blank Wall' and its two movie adaptations – 'The Reckless Moment' & 'The Deep End' Crime novel writer Elisabeth Sanxay Holding (1889–1955) is not a name familiar to many, and yet Raymond Chandler described her as “the top suspense writer of them all. She doesn't pour it on and make you feel irritated. Her characters are wonderful; and she has a sort of inner calm which I find very attractive.” Holding has been identified as “The Godmother of Noir” and, more...

Exclusive: Italian producer Cattleya has set Emmy-nominated docu filmmaker Francesco Carrozzini to direct Midnight Sun, an adaption of the bestselling Jo Nesbo novel. Cattleya, the production company behind the superb Italian language mob TV series Gomorra and Romanzo Criminale, acquired the Nesbo novel and intends to turn it into an English language film. The novel focuses on Ulf, a young man who gets off a bus on Norway’s far northeastern border, telling the locals that…...

Hugely acclaimed French genre film producer Franck Ribiere (Inside, Livid, Cell 211, Malefique, Witching And Bitching, etc etc etc) steps into the director's chair for upcoming thriller The Most Assassinated Woman In The World. Set against the backdrop of the infamous Theatre Grand Guignol the story revolves around iconic actress Paula Maxa - the most famous of the Grand Guignol's leading ladies and the titular Most Assassinated Woman, who was graphically slain on stage multiple times a day - played here by Anna Mouglalis (Romanzo Criminale, Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky). And while there is not yet an official synopsis out there we do have the first shot of Mouglalis as Maxa to share. You can click the version down below if you want to...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

You may feel the need to keep one eye on the sky the next time you leave your house after reading our excerpt from Chuck Wendig's new horror crime novel, Thunderbird, the fourth entry in the Miriam Black series that's out now from Saga Press.

Check out Chapter Five of Thunderbird below, and to learn more about Wendig's new novel, visit Simon & Schuster and Amazon online.

"Thunderbird (Saga Press, February 28th) by Chuck Wendig - In the fourth installment of the Miriam Black series, Miriam heads to the southwest in search of another psychic who may be able to help her understand her curse, but instead finds a cult of domestic terrorists and the worst vision of death she’s had yet.

Miriam is becoming addicted to seeing her death visions, but she is also trying out something new: Hope. She is in search of another psychic who can help her with her curse,...

The upcoming novel Thunderbird, from Chuck Wendig, is a relaunch of his beloved Miriam Black series, focusing on a whole new story arc. While technically it’s the fourth book in the saga, it serves as the start of a new… Continue Reading →

The post Chuck Wendig’s Horror Crime Novel Thunderbird Arrives Later this Month appeared first on Dread Central.

Venice appoints additional jury presidents; Sam Mendes already on board as competition jury president.

Director Robert Guédiguian (Marius and Jeannette) has been set as president of Venice’s Orizzoniti Jury and actor-director Kim Rossi Stuart (Romanzo Criminale) will serve as president of the jury for the Luigi De Laurentiis Venice Award for a Debut Film - Lion of the Future.

French director Guédiguian, known for his focus on Marseille and working class life, presented La Ville Est Tranquille at the festival in 2000.

Kim Rossi Stuart’s films has often featured at Venice, including Le Chiavi Di Casa (2004) by Gianni Amelio and Vallanzasca (2010) by Michele Placido.

The Orizzonti section awards the Orizzonti Award for Best Film; Orizzonti Award for Best Director; Special Orizzonti Jury Prize; Orizzonti Award for Best Actor or Actress; Orizzonti Award for Best Screenplay; Orizzonti Award for Best Short Film.

The international Jury of the “Luigi De Laurentiis” Venice Award for a Debut Film awards...

To mark the release of Romanzo Criminale Season 2 on 1st February, we’ve been gven 3 copies to give away on DVD. A criminal known as ‘Libanese’ has a dream: to conquer the underworld of Rome. To carry out this unprecedented feat he puts together a ruthless and highly organized gang. Their progress and changes

The post Win Romanzo Criminale Season 2 on DVD appeared first on HeyUGuys.

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The Last Panthers builds from a slow start into an ambitious, strongly acted drama where the political meets the personal...

Until relatively recently, it was commonly accepted that British TV audiences just didn’t ‘do’ subtitles. Films and programmes in languages other than English were generally relegated to specialist channels with specialist audiences; your BBC4s, Sky Arts and such like. Prior to that, they’d appear at somewhat late hours on BBC2 and Channel 4 (themselves once regarded rather ‘specialist’). There they would be enjoyed by the sort of viewer who would seek them out anyway; never quite becoming the sort of show that thousands of people stumble across and turn into conversation fodder at office watercoolers the next day.

The success of The Killing changed all that. Ten hours of bleak Scandinavian noir, presented entirely in Danish and lapped up by British audiences who eagerly...

Recently, CBS served up the new,official synopsis/description for their upcoming "Elementary" episode 7 of season 4. The episode is entitled, "Miss Taken," and it turns out that we're going to see some very drama-filled and intense stuff take place as Watson's father totally pisses her off by privately writing a novel about her work, and more! In the new, 7th episode press release: Watson Is Enraged When Her Stepfather Writes A Crime Novel Based On Her Work With Holmes Without Her Knowledge, On "Elementary," Thursday, Jan. 7. Press release number 2: When Watson's stepfather (John Heard) writes a crime novel based on her work with Holmes without her knowledge, an underlying issue in their relationship is going to get revealed. Also, as Holmes and Watson investigate a retired FBI agent's murder, they are going to discover the man's death is connected to an unsolved case from the victim's career. Guest stars...

It’s almost the start of a new month and that means Netflix is about to refresh their content by adding a lot of new titles and removing some as well. Some of the titles we’re losing include Fargo, Stand By Me, and Batman & Robin, oh no! But some of the highlights for November include the first season of Bob Odenkirk and David Cross’s new Netflix show With Bob and David; Marvel’s Jessica Jones, and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Check out the full listings below:

All Title Dates are Subject to Change

Netflix U.S. Release Dates Only

Available 11/1

Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure (2011)

Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce: Season 1

Idris Elba: Mandela, My Dad and Me (2015)

Last Days in Vietnam (2014)

Pasion de Gavilanes (2003)

Robot Overlords (2015)

Seven Deadly Sins: Season 1 — Netflix Original

Smithsonian Channel: The Day Kennedy Died (2013)

The Last Time You Had Fun (2014)

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie...

Halloween is ending abruptly on Netflix: You only have until midnight on October 31st to stream "Scream" and several "Saw" installments as these horror films are all expiring on November 1.

And if you want to watch "Fargo" (1996), "Rudy" (1993), "Stand by Me," or "The Blues Brothers" (1980), they're also vanishing on November 1.

Here's the complete list of what's leaving Netflix streaming in November 2015.

Leaving November 1

"1492: Conquest of Paradise" (1992)

"America in Primetime" (2011)

"Bali": Season 1 (2006)

"Balto 3: Wings of Change" (2004)

"Batman & Robin" (1997)

"Best Kept Secret" (2013)

"Best Laid Plans" (1999)

"Changing Lanes" (2002)

"Cleopatra" (1963)

"Conspiracy Theory" (1997)

"Death Warrant" (1990)

"Fargo" (1996)

"Fela Kuti: Music Is the Weapon" (1982)

"Funny Games" (1997)

"Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" (2012)

"Hero and Terror" (1988)

"House of Flying Daggers" (2004)

"Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie" (2002)

"Lunopolis" (2009)

"Move Over, Darling" (1963)

"Norman" (2010)

"Pajanimals": Season 1 (2010)

"Rudy" (1993)

"Saw" (2004)

"Saw II" (2005)

"Saw III" (2006)

"Saw IV" (2007)

"Saw V" (2008)

"Scream" (1996)

"Secrets of Mary Magdalene" (2006)

"Soul Plane" (2004)

"Stand by Me...

Suburra is planned as a 10-episode drama made in partnership with Italy’s Rai. While Netflix has embarked on originals in France (Marseille), and elsewhere, this is the first time it’s moving into the space in Italy. A worldwide debut is set for 2017. Described as a dark and gripping organized crime series set on the Roman coast, Suburra will be produced by Cattleya, the indie film and television company behind such series as Gomorrah and Romanzo Criminale. The saga that…...

To mark the release of Romanzo Criminale on 14th September, we’ve been given 3 copies to give away on DVD. A criminal known as ‘Lebanese’ has a dream: to conquer the underworld of Rome. To carry out this unprecedented feat he puts together a ruthless and highly organised gang. Their progress and changes in leadership

The post Win Romanzo Criminale on DVD appeared first on HeyUGuys.

Exclusive: Film to market premiere at Toronto.

Paris-based Indie Sales has secured sales on Stefano Sollima’s Rome-set organised crime thriller Suburra.

The film has sold to Benelux (Lumiere), Germany and Austria (Koch Films) and Switzerland (Praesens Films).

Sollima previously directed most of the episodes of hit TV series Gomorrah, which sold to more than 100 territories including the Us, where it was acquired by The Weinstein Company.

Other credits include the 2012 film A.C.A.B., about a squad of riot police in Rome, and TV series Romanzo Criminale.

Indie Sales, which will market premiere the high-octane Suburra at a private screening today (Sept 12), is also reporting strong interest from Australia and the UK.

“Stefano Sollima is an amazing director and the actors are great” said Indie Sales chief Nicolas Eschbach.

The film is based on a novel of the same name by Giancarlo De Cataldo and Carlo Bonini, painting a nebulous web of corruption interlinking politicians, the Vatican...

Spartacus creator/executive producer Steven S. DeKnight has been tapped as executive producer/showrunner of Marvel’s 13-episode series Daredevil, set to premiere on Netflix in 2015. Drew Goddard was originally tapped as writer/executive producer and director. He pulled out from directing duties in late March when Sony gave him a big feature assignment, to write and direct The Amazing Spider-Man spin-off film, The Sinister Six. Goddard did write the first two episodes of Daredevil and will remain as executive producer. Marvel had been looking for an experienced showrunner to shepherd the series, zeroing in on DeKnight, and the company just officially announced his hire. Search for a director to helm the opening episode continues. DeKnight has been under an overall deal at Starz, spearheading an U.S. adaptation of the Italian drama Romanzo Criminale among other projects. He has been let out of his deal by Starz to do the Netflix series.

In a pre-emptive deal worth big bucks, Warner Bros. has acquired Gary Graham's hot spec “A Garden at the End of the World,” multiple individuals familiar with the project have told TheWrap. A representative Warner Bros. did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Also read: Lionsgate Buys New Sci-Fi Spec ‘Terrestrial’ With ‘Journey 2' Producer (Exclusive) Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment will produce with Brooklyn Weaver of Energy Entertainment and Jonathan Krauss. Ian Puente will executive produce. “Garden” is described as a gritty Western in the vein of John Wayne's “The Searchers,” but with a sci-fi twist.

The Weinstein Company has acquired rights to the Sky Italia crime drama series Gomorra, directed by Stefano Sollima (Romanzo Criminale). Marco D’Amore, Fortunato Cerlino, Maria Pia Calzone, Salvatore Esposito, Marco Palvetti star in the series based on Roberto Saviano’s bestselling novel, the inside story of the fierce Neapolitan crime organization Camorra. It tells the story of 30-year-old Ciro (d’Amore), the right hand of the Savastano clan’s godfather Pietro (Cerlino), and the ruthless war to take over “The System”. The series consist of 12 one-hour installments and in addition to Sky Italia is produced by Cattley, Fandango La 7 and Beta Film. Negotiations began at the 2013 Mipcom market. The deal is for the original series and no remake is planned as of now. “This is a project that caught our eye a while back for its world-class acting talent, as well as Stefano Sollima’s phenomenal abilities to craft a thriller like none other.

Two separate film tax fraud cases are heading towards trial.

Chris Atkins, writer-director of 2007 BAFTA-nominated doc Taking Liberties and 2009 doc Starsuckers, and Terence Potter, co-producer of acclaimed 2005 drama Romanzo Criminale, are among 13 men and women alleged by the Crown Prosecution Service to have taken part in a £2.5m film tax fraud.

The charges against the 13 relate to two film partnerships that allegedly submitted false tax returns so its members could claim relief on losses.

Seven of the 13 individuals are investment bankers.

A provisional trial date of July 13 has been set.

Meanwhile, in a separate case, five film professionals are due to stand trial in September in connection with another film tax scam.

Salt co-directors Robert Bevan and Cyril Megret, executive producers Keith Hayley and Charles Savill, formerly of Little Wing Films (as was Bevan), and Norman Leighton are alleged by the Crown Prosecution Service to have taken part in a tax relief fraud that cost the public...

J.K. Rowling is releasing a sequel to her second post-Harry Potter adult novel, The Cuckoo’s Calling, called The Silkworm.

The Cuckoo’s Calling was released in 2013 and was published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. This next book will also be released with the pseudeonym, but the secret is out. When The Cuckoo’s Calling was released in April, readers had no idea that the real author of the book was the beloved Harry Potter scribe.

Rowling said she loved the freedom of anonymity and it seems she might be hoping that there are people in the world who won’t know that ‘Robert Galbraith’ is really J.K. Rowling.

“It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation, and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name,” Rowling said in a statement announcing her authorship.

The Silkworm will continue Rowling’s foray into crime novels and will be...

Exclusive: Contemporary love story set against Rome’s criminal underworld is an Italian-French co-production.

Indie Sales has acquired international rights to Italian director Michele Alhaique’s Senza Pieta starring Pierfrancesco Favino as a loner and Mafia henchman who lands on the wrong side of his boss.

“The script stood out and I felt I could help in putting this movie together. Michele Alhaique has a new voice that deserves to be heard,” said Favino.

One of Italy’s most respected actors, Favino is best known for his award-winning performances in Michele Placido’s Romanzo Criminale, and more recently Stefano Sollima’s Acab ­ All Cops Are Bastards and Marco Tullio Giordana’s Piazza Fontana.

He has also made appearances in a dozen international pictures, including most recently World War Z and Rush.

Working-titled Senza Pieta is 34-year-old Alhaique directorial debut. The actor and filmmaker is best known at home for his performances in TV show and films such as...

Cable channel Starz used this year's TCA presentation to give updates on all its major series for 2013 including two high profile new dramas, the second season of a cult genre series, and other shows in development.

Black Sails

Set during the Golden Age of piracy in a remote Bahamas outpost, this prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" aims to replace fantastical pirate lore with a more realistic vision of actual pirate life at the time.

The result is it's more like a western at sea - everyone's dirty, this world is vicious and brutally violent, and in regular Starz tradition - there's graphic sexuality. The show, which premieres January 25th, has already been renewed for a second season which began production in November. They've also unveiled a new trailer (geoblocked in some countries):

Da Vinci's Demons

David Goyer's fantastical take on the life of Leonardo returns...

J.K. Rowling admitted earlier this year that saying goodbye to Harry Potter and his wizarding world was proving difficult, and now the best-selling author of the series is working on a play that will be a prequel to the books.

'Harry Potter' Play In The Works

Before Harry received his letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the mail, he was orphaned and sent to live with his incorrigible, magic-fearing aunt and uncle. It will be these years that the play will trace, according to a statement.

Rowling said in the statement that the production will “explore the previously untold story of Harry’s early years as an orphan and outcast.”

While Rowling will have input on the script, another writer, who has not been selected, will write it. The British author will also serve as a co-producer alongside Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender. They’ve yet to...

Exclusive: Starz is developing an U.S. adaptation of the Italian drama Romanzo Criminale. It will be written by Steven S. DeKnight, creator/showrunner of Starz’s most successful original series, Spartacus, who is serving as executive producer and showrunner as part of his overall deal with the pay cable network. Lionsgate, which previously produced Boss for Starz, is the studio, with Steve McPherson, who has a first-look deal there, executive producing alongside Scripted World’s Alon Aranya and Rob Golenberg (Betrayal). The 2008 Italian drama revolves around a gang that controls Rome’s heroin trade in the 1970s and 1980s. The U.S. adaptation will be set in Philadelphia during the turbulent era of the late sixties and early seventies. The story will chronicle the rise of a gang of working class criminals who attempt to seize the American Dream by any means necessary. Scripted World’s Aranya and Golenberg...

Mystery solved - and Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling is none too pleased. In yet another surprising twist to a true-life tale that's becoming as fanciful as her work, Rowling's own law firm admitted that one of its partners leaked the information as to the true authorship of The Cuckoo's Calling, a critically acclaimed debut detective novel credited to Robert Galbraith but, in fact, written by Rowling. In a statement released Thursday through Rowling's publicist, the author says, "A tiny number of people knew my pseudonym and it has not been pleasant to wonder for days how a woman whom...

Loose lips sink ships -- and they also spoil literary secrets. The source of a tip that led to the unmasking of Robert Galbraith, author of murder mystery The Cuckoo's Calling, as none other than Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling has been revealed. The surprising news was reported over the weekend by the Sunday Times, which was tipped off by a tweet from account @JudeCallegari, which quickly was deleted, and the well-received book swiftly shot up to the top of the best-seller charts. Story: J.K. Rowling Outed as Secret Writer of Crime Novel  That tipster first was revealed by

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