“Killers of the Flower Moon” executive producer Niels Juul is in Cannes with several projects based on IP from the vault of Italy’s storied Cecchi Gori movie company that include a remake of the Dino Risi-directed classic “Il Sorpasso” and “Kafka,” a script about the turbulent love life of Franz Kafka by John Briley (“Gandhi”).
The IP and some other assets of the movie company that once dominated Italy’s film industry and collapsed in the mid-1990s were acquired late last year by a group of Italian investors under the new management of Rome-based CEO Federico Canfora and U.S-based Javier Balliero Madrid. Madrid is president of the new company, which is backing a partial relaunch of the Cecchi Gori brand, which is behind such Oscar-winners as “Life Is Beautiful,” “Mediterraneo” and “Il Postino.”
They have a producing agreement with Los Angeles-based Juul, who is a former Cecchi Gori Pictures CEO. He has been building a slate that is a mix of Italian and English-language films.
The most advanced project in the pipeline of the newlyformed outfit is “All for One,” a contemporary adaptation of Alexander Dumas’ “Three Musketeers,” originally penned by U.S. writer David Hunsaker (“Samurai Cowboy”) and now being adapted by a team of Italian and U.K.-based writers.
Italian director Riccardo Chemello is attached to direct “All For One.” Chemello cut his teeth directing commercials for such brands as Red Bull, Disney and Armani, and last year made his directorial debut with “Dampyr,” a live-action adaptation of the eponymous cult fantasy franchise that was picked up worldwide by Sony. “All for One” is described as an English-language “action-packed nail-biter about an attempted U.S. coup orchestrated by an extreme right-wing chief of staff and foiled by the first lady, with the aid of her Secret Service detail.”
“Even if the script was originally written by David Hunsaker in 2001, its subtle layers of commentary are weirdly close and eerily reflective of the last four turbulent years in and around the White House,” Chemello said in a statement.
“I am thrilled to be given the opportunity to work with such a dynamic and talented Italian director as Riccardo, and to continue to build on the incredible cinematic vision of Vittorio Cecchi Gori,” said Juul. He added that the storied company’s former chief (pictured above with Juul) has retired from day-to-day running of the business “but continues to serve as honorary chairman and as producer on our films.”
