12/10/2007

Of the six titles on release today in Italy, four come with the stamp of European creative and production contributions.

First up is Resident Evil: Extinction by Russell Mulcahy, distributed by Sony on 254 screens. The last chapter in the videogame-based horror trilogy, begun by British filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson (who here only wrote and produced), once again stars Milla Jovovich as the apocalyptic heroine Alice battling, as always, hordes of zombies. The co-production involved the US, Australia, Germany’s Constantin Film Produktion and France’s Davis-Films.

Great Britain features prominently this weekend with two US/UK co-productions, both inspired by literature. Stardust, directed by London native Matthew Vaughn, features a stellar cast (Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Rupert Everett, Peter O’Toole and the narrating voice of Ian McKellen) and brings to the big screen the eponymous fantasy novel by Neil Gaiman, who was also one of the film’s producers. Released on 265 screens by Universal, the film was financed by Ingenious Film Partners and Marv Films.

Becoming Jane [+see also:
trailer
film profile], directed by Julian Jarrold, offers an original, and romanticised portrait of a young Jane Austen, played by Anne Hathaway, who is flanked by Scottish actor James McAvoy (recently in the period literary adaptation Atonement [+see also:
trailer
film profile]) and two legends of English stage and screen: Julie Walters and Maggie Smith.

Distributed by Eagle Pictures (on 62 screens), the film was produced by Ecosse Films, Octagon Films, Scion Films, Blueprint Pictures, BBC Films and 2 Entertain, with support from the Bank of Ireland, Irish Film Board and the UK Film Council.

Lastly, SMS – Sotto Mentite Spoglie by and starring Vincenzo Salemme is this week’s main title: Medusa Film (which also produced the film) is releasing it on 360 screens, counting as it is on the popularity of the Neapolitan actor-director and his co-star Giorgio Panariello.

(Translated from Italian)