Series based on Tommaso Buscetta is in the works

Variety is reporting that Mediaset is moving into the international TV arena with a high-end series about Tommaso Buscetta, the first high-ranking member of Cosa Nostra to break the Sicilian Mafia’s oath of silence.

Working-titled “Don Masino” the eight-episode show is being shepherded by prominent producer Pietro Valsecchi through his TaoDuefilm and TV shingle, which is fully owned by Mediaset.

Valsecchi, who has long been churning out hits on his home turf, has been developing the Buscetta series for six years. He was beaten to the punch by director Marco Bellocchio’s feature film The Traitor, the Buscetta biopic that has been a box office draw in Italy after launching from Cannes and is Italy’s Oscar candidate this year.

“It confirms that Buscetta is a powerful character,” said Valsecchi, who adds that the series will be “completely different” because it will cover the “full narrative arc of his story in its many facets.”

The Mediaset series arc will start from the 1950s when Buscetta, who came from a family of 18 children, was rising in Cosa Nostra’s ranks. It will thrash out the big moment when in 1984 Buscetta decided to start cooperating with Italian and, later, American prosecutors. Buscetta turned against the Corleonesi faction in the first major “betrayal” within Cosa Nostra’s high-ranks after a mob war caused the killing of members of his family. He died in Florida under police protection in the year 2000.

“The idea is to depict in depth the journey of this controversial character whose two big dramas are his dilemma in becoming a turncoat, which he did in a spirit of revenge, and his face-off with Totò Riina, [aka the Boss of All Bosses].” Riina embodied a more violent strand of Sicilan mobster, who made the Mafia’s code of honor stop “making sense” to Buscetta after most of his family had been annihilated, Valsecchi said.

The screenplay is penned by Graziano Diana, Claudio Fava (“The One Hundred Steps”), Monica Zappelli and Valsecchi who said other writers may come on board to give it a polish.

Talks are underway for as yet unspecified German and Brazilian partners to come on board. The “Don Masino” budget will be more that $15 million, Valsecchi said, adding that he is shopping the series to Netflix, Amazon and other global streamers.

Comments

Federico Fellini: A Look into the Life and Career of an Icon

A Fellini family portrait “The term became a common word to describe something on the surface you can say is bizarre or strange, but actually is really like a painter working on a film,” said Martin Scorsese when asked to define “Felliniesque,” an adjective inspired by one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. The oldest of three children, Federico Fellini was born in the seaside town of Rimini in 1920. His father was a traveling salesman, so his mother was left to do the bulk of raising the children. One can argue that Fellini was born for his destiny. “You could tell that even as a child, he was different and unique. He was very intelligent, well above average. He was always the one to organize things, direct the others, make up games. He could control the other kids with just a look, said Fellini’s sister, Maddalena, in an interview with journalist Gideon Bachmann. Not only was Fellini directing the children, but he was also putting on shows and charging ...

The Timeless Talent of Stefania Sandrelli

On screen since the tender age of 14, she has captivated audiences for more than 50 years with a compelling combination of strength and vulnerability. She achieved stardom at just 14 years old playing the angelic cousin of a love-struck Marcello Mastroianni in Pietro Germi’s “Divorce Italian Style.” More than half a century later, she is still going strong and remains one of Italy’s most esteemed actors. Stefania Sandrelli was born on June 5, 1946, in Viareggio in the province of Lucca in northern Italy. As a child, she studied music and dance. Then in 1960, she won a beauty pageant and was featured on the cover of Le Ore magazine. Her purity captivated the country and shortly thereafter, movie offers began pouring in. Just one year later, she made her cinema debut in three feature films: Mario Sequi’s Gioventù di notte , Luciano Salce’s The Fascist, and Pietro Germi’s Divorce Italian Style . She instantly became a star and before long was a key figure in Italy’s legend...

The Anthology Film Archives Presents: The Italian Connection: Poliziotteschi and Other Italo-Crime Films of the 1960s and '70's

June 19 – June 29 Influenced both by 1960s political cinema and Italian crime novels, as well as by French noir and American cop movies like "Dirty Harry" and "The French Connection," many Italian filmmakers in the late-60s and early-70s gradually moved away from the spaghetti western genre, trading lone cowboys for ‘bad’ cops and the rough frontier of the American west for the mean streets of modern Italy. Just as they had with their westerns, they reinvented the borrowed genre with their inimitable eye for style and filled their stories with the kidnappings, heists, vigilante justice, and brutal violence that suffused this turbulent moment in post-boom 1970s Italy. The undercurrent of fatalism and cynicism in these uncompromising movies is eerily reminiscent of the state of discontent in Italy today. ‘The Italian Connection’ showcases the diversity and innovation found in the genre, from the gangster noir of Fernando Di Leo’s "Caliber 9" ...

Gianfranco Rosi to premiere 'Sotto le nuvole' at Venice Film Fest, exploring Naples' history

Documentary filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi will premiere his much-anticipated latest film at the upcoming 82nd Venice International Film Festival , which runs August 27 - Sept. 6. "Sotto le nuvole" (Below the Clouds) takes a deep dive into the rich history and culture of Naples and the area surrounding Mount Vesuvius. There has not been much information revealed but so far, we know that the film will focus on themes similar to those explored by Rosi in his previous works, such as the examination of Roman culture in "Sacro GRA" (2013) and Lampedusa's refugee crisis in "Fuocoammare" (2016). The film's synopsis reads, “The land around Vesuvius is a vast palimpsest. On the surface, underground and even beneath the sea of the modern city of Naples and its surroundings, the memory of history is etched into tunnels, walls and fissures, the remains of women, children and men — statues, buried cities. Only thin layers separate contemporary and ancient life, an...

Riccardo Scamarcio Joins Cast of "John Wick 2"

Update to our original January 18 post.. - According to the Hollywood Reporter, the follow-up to John Wick has been given an official title — John Wick, Chapter 2 — and a release date from Lionsgate: Feb. 10, 2017. It's just been reported that Keanu Reeves is in Rome shooting his new film, "John Wick 2" with Italian actors Riccardo Scamarcio and Claudia Gerini . The film is an action-thriller and sequel to "John Wick". Shooting began last October in New York City. John Wick, played by Reeves, is a hitman that comes out of retirement to seek vengeance for the theft of his vintage car and the killing of his puppy, a gift from his recently deceased wife. The scenes being shot in Italy for the sequel reportedly take his career to the international level. Riccardo Scamarcio One of Italy's most recognizable faces, Riccardo Scamarcio has built a solid career based on the diversity in the roles he chooses and the intensity with which he plays the...

Italian Cinema Today

Search This Blog