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Exclusive: Bridgerton star Luke Newton will play the late fashion designer Lee Alexander McQueen in a new Off Broadway play starting next month.

Darrah Cloud’s House of McQueen will begin previews August 19 at The Mansion at Hudson Yards, with an official opening set for September 9. Directing will be Sam Helfrich.

Newton’s London stage credits include The Book of Mormon and, most recently, Neil Labute’s The Shape of Things.

“It is our absolute pleasure to announce Luke’s involvement with House of McQueen,” said executive producer Rick Lazes. “We can’t think of anyone better suited to bring Lee’s story to life than this incredibly impressive multi-hyphenate.”

The official synopsis: “The play will take guests through Lee’s layered individual experience, from his early days as an emerging designer, to later building one of the most important fashion houses in the world, and ultimately his tragic passing in 2010. Within the performance,...

Rome’s Cinecittà Studios are filling up once again following a brief hiatus due to the fallout from Hollywood’s writers’ and actors’ strikes combined with a – now fully resolved – spell of uncertainty about the solidity of Italy’s tax rebate for international productions.

That’s the main takeaway from a press event held in Rome by Cinecittà CEO Manuela Cacciamani who, after taking the reins in July, is now implementing a 2025-2029 plan under which she expects the studios to generate nearly €60 million ($67 million) in revenue and turn a small but significant €4.3 million ($4.8 million) profit by 2029.

The iconic film facilities that are being revamped thanks to a €300 million ($338 million) loan, provided by the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund, recently lured both Mel Gibson, who is arriving in August to shoot “The Resurrection of the Christ” at Cinecittà’s sprawling new Studio 22 facility, and Ridley Scott. The latter has...

Following the glory days of Hollywood filmmaking in Rome during the 1950s and 1960s, Italy is once again becoming a magnet for international productions – particularly from Hollywood. And the main driver is a combination of the country’s tax incentives and Rome’s Cinecittà studio, which is being refurbished and is now a state-of-the-art digital age facility.

That was the main takeaways of a panel held as party of Variety’s Global Conversations Summit at the Cannes Film Festival.

Nicola Borrelli, head of the film department of Italy’s culture ministry, provided a detailed rundown of the country’s 40% rebate for international film and TV productions. “In Italy there is a €20 million euros ($22 million) per year cap per company,” he said. But, Borrelli added, “there is no cap per project.” So there have been lots of international shoots with much higher budgets that have been able to tap into the rebate through different companies,...

The vital flow of Hollywood productions has returned at full strength to Rome’s Cinecittà soundstages, which has been undergoing a radical overhaul that is transforming the iconic facilities into state-of-the-art studios for the digital age.

Shooting recently wrapped on the U.S. sci-fi thriller “White Mars,” toplining Luke Newton (“Bridgerton”) and Lucy Hale (“Pretty Little Liars”) and co-financed by XYZ Films and Singularity Ent. The pic was filmed entirely at Cinecittà’s Theater 18, which houses one of the world’s largest LED stages and has become a fundamental asset. And pre-production is underway on Mel Gibson’s “The Resurrection of the Christ,” which will use Cinecittà’s sprawling new Studio 22 facility as its main hub this summer. Gibson had been scouting other European facilities for the sequel to his blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ,” which shot at Cinecittà more than 20 years ago. The director and his Icon Prods.

Rome’s Cinecittà studios, which in its heyday hosted sword-and-sandals epics such as William Wyler’s “Ben-Hur” and was home to Federico Fellini, are being revamped thanks to a loan provided by the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund.

The goal of Cinecittà, once known as Hollywood on the Tiber, is to become the largest studio space in Europe and gain a competitive edge against other prominent European facilities such as Germany’s Studio Babelsberg, Hungary’s Origo Studios and Nu Boyana in Bulgaria.

Below are some recent Cinecittà milestones that provide a snapshot of key steps in the studio’s transformation into a cutting-edge city of cinema and magnet for Hollywood productions once again.

2021

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and then-Italian premier Mario Draghi jointly visit the Cinecittà lot and hold a press conference in Studio 5, where Fellini shot almost all of his films, to announce...

Exclusive: In a very competitive situation with several major bidders, Netflix has landed for development Dead Letters, a drama starring and executive produced by Lucy Hale, Deadline has learned. An adaptation of Caite Dolan-Leach’s 2017 novel, the project comes from Unwell Productions, the company of Call Her Daddy‘s Alex Cooper, and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment.

Written/executive produced by Rachel Caris Love (Invitation to a Bonfire) and to be directed/executive produced by Liz Friedlander (Shining Vale), Dead Letters is described as an addictive mystery whodunit-meets-psychological thriller centered on a pair of identical twin sisters: Ava and Zelda, played by Hale. When Ava returns home to the family vineyard in the wake of Zelda’s sudden death, she must find out who murdered her beloved twin while reckoning with dangerous revelations about the woman Zelda had become in her absence. To complicate matters: Zelda knew she was in...

Earlier this month, it was announced that a sci-fi thriller called White Mars, which sounds quite similar to The Thing and is set to star Lucy Hale of Pretty Little Liars, Scream 4, Truth or Dare?, and Fantasy Island, would begin filming on November 11th. Production is now underway, with filming taking place at Cinecittà Studios in Rome, where the movie is being shot entirely in a virtual production environment. Now, Deadline has revealed that Hale is being joined in the cast by Luke Newton, who is best known for playing the role of Colin Bridgerton on the hit Netflix series Bridgerton (his other credits include the Disney show The Lodge and Lake Placid: Legacy).

Martin Owen (The Loneliest Boy in the World), who just co-directed a survival thriller called Above the Below with Idris Elba, will be directing White Mars from a screenplay by Matt Mitchell, Vicki Sargent, and Roo Berry.

Luke Newton has landed one of his first big roles, post-Bridgerton season 3!

He’ll be portraying a leading role in the new sci-fi-thriller White Mars, which will also star Lucy Hale.

Keep reading to find out more…

Deadline reports that the film is currently in production in Rome, Italy and is being filmed in a “virtual production environment.”

Here’s the synopsis: Set in an isolated Aquila Research Facility, White Mars follows microbiologist Sammie (Hale) as she and Leo (Newton) fight to save their fellow crew members from a malevolent entity whose sole intention is to extinguish them all.

Luke is fresh off of his big season three role in Bridgerton, where his character had his big leading arc. Luke will be back for season four of Bridgerton on Netflix as well. Find out which 5 stars are exiting Bridgerton.

Exclusive: Luke Newton (Bridgerton) is set to join Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars) as lead cast of the sci-fi-thriller White Mars, which is currently in production at Cinecittà Studios in Rome and will be shot entirely in a virtual production environment.

Set in an isolated Aquila Research Facility, White Mars follows microbiologist Sammie (Hale) as she and Leo (Newton) fight to save their fellow crew members from a malevolent entity whose sole intention is to extinguish them all.

From director Martin Owen (Above the Below) with a script by Matt Mitchell, Vicki Sargent, and Roo Berry, Future Artists Entertainment’s Matt Williams will produce alongside Neil Jones with Steve Griffith and Steve Jelley from Singularity Entertainment.

XYZ Films is co-financing, in conjunction with Ipr.Vc with Singularity, and is handling worldwide sales.

Newton, best known for his role of Colin Bridgerton in Netflix smash Bridgerton, has also starred in Disney series...