Italy’s RAI Cinema Takes Ron Howard’s ‘Origin of Species’ at Cannes Where They Have Four Films Including ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ (EXCLUSIVE)
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent Italy’s RAI Cinema, which has four titles in this year’s Cannes selection, has closed a deal on Ron Howard’s next movie “Origin of Species,” a hot project at the Cannes market starring Daisy Edgar-Jones, Ana de Armas, Jude Law and Alicia Vikander.
RAI Cinema chief Paolo Del Brocco said the company – which is the film arm of Italian state broadcaster RAI – has teamed up with Rome-based Lucisano Media Group to acquire Italian rights from CAA Media Finance on Howard’s survival thriller penned by Noah Pink (“Tetris”) about a a group of eclectics who turn their backs on civilization and head to the Galapagos.
In Cannes, RAI Cinema also picked up Italian rights from Gaumont on family movie “Moon The Panda,” by French humans and animals adventures specialist Gilles de Maistre, known for “Mia and the White Lion”and “The Wolf and the Lion.” De Maistre’s latest, about the friendship between a boy and a panda, is set to shoot later this month in China’s Sichuan mountains.
Speaking to Variety, Del Brocco said he was particularly proud that RAI Cinema co-produced, and will be locally distributing, the three Italian films competing in Cannes: Nanni Moretti’s “A Brighter Tomorrow,” Marco Bellocchio’s “Kidnapped,” and Alice Rohrwacher’s “La Chimera.” “For us it’s huge that we are bringing so much Italian cinema – and such diverse works – to Cannes,” he said.
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