movies

First Look: Toni Servillo Meets His Match in Mario Martone’s Venice-Bound ‘Scherzetto’

Published

1 hour ago

September 2, 2026

A mordant Toni Servillo may have met his match in this exclusive early image from Scherzetto, director Mario Martone’s feature adaptation of an Italian novel of the same name by author Domenico Starnone.

In an inspired bit of casting, Italian screen legend Servillo stars in Scherzetto as Daniele, a renowned illustrator whose life of elegant solitude is abruptly turned upside down when he’s called on to look after his wildly imaginative and unruly five-year-old grandson. Daniele reluctantly returns to his childhood home in Naples, where his daughter has asked him to care for Mario while she and her husband are away. Confined together in the apartment, grandfather and grandson enter into an escalating battle of wills that forces Daniele to reckon with the ghosts of his own childhood and family history.

Scherzetto will premiere out of competition at the Venice Film Festival on Sept 10. The project’s sales agent, Rai Cinema, shared a first-look still (above) with The Hollywood Reporter shortly before the festival’s opening.

Toni Servillo in *Scherzetto* as Daniele.

A Lido regular and pillar of contemporary Italian cinema and theater generally, Martone made his feature debut with Death of a Neapolitan Mathematician, which won Venice’s grand jury prize in 1992. His last feature at the festival was the 2021 competition entry Qui rido io, another collaboration with Servillo. For his part, Servillo, a lion of the Italian stage and screen, arrives back in Venice just one year after winning the festival’s Volpi Cup for best actor for his performance in Paolo Sorrentino’s La Grazia.

“Two characters at opposite ends of life, a family situation that is often comic, a single setting, and ghosts,” Martone says of Scherzetto‘s premise. “As I worked on the film, my own ghosts also began to emerge, difficult to keep at bay, and I started chasing them with the camera.”

“For Toni Servillo, too, I don’t think this was simply a matter of playing a role,” Martone adds. “It was an immersion into unknown territory, dominated by the presence of a five-year-old who, every day, could have told us: ‘Enough, I’m bored!’”

Five-year-old Lorenzo Perrotta co-stars as Mario, with Serena Rossi as Daniele’s daughter Betta, Leonardo Lidi as her husband Saverio and Gianluca Di Gennaro and Giovanni Ludeno also in the cast. Martone co-wrote the screenplay with longtime collaborator Ippolita di Majo. Mad Entertainment produced with Rai Cinema, in association with EDI Effetti Digitali Italiani and Picomedia.

Scherzetto premieres out of competition in Venice on Sept. 10. Rai Cinema International Distribution is handling world sales, with 01 Distribution releasing the film in Italy.

movies

Julianne Moore To Receive Zurich’s Golden Icon Award

Published

42 seconds ago

September 2, 2026

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The Zurich Film Festival will fete Julianne Moore with its Golden Icon Award. She will accept the award in person in Zurich, accompanied by Jesse Eisenberg, who directed the Academy Award winner in The Debut.

The Debut marks Moore’s second collaboration with director Jesse Eisenberg, following Eisenberg’s directorial debut, When You Finish Saving the World (2022). The film follows Mona Friedman (Moore), who is cast in a bit part at a small community theater. She transforms from a shy, unassuming housewife into a zealous method actor willing to do anything to protect the artistic integrity of her marginal role – even if it means waging war against the show’s domineering director.

“Julianne Moore is one of the outstanding character actresses of American cinema. She possesses remarkable versatility and, time and again, manages to captivate us with her intense portrayals of the characters she plays,” Christian Jungen, CEO of the Zurich Film Festival, said in a statement.

“No matter which film we see her in, we find ourselves rooting for her characters. In the wonderful film THE DEBUT, she delivers a brilliant performance as a woman who realizes it’s not too late to fulfill her deeply personal dream: becoming an actress. It is Julianne Moore’s love letter to her own profession – and thus the perfect film with which to thank her, with our Golden Icon Award, for so many wonderful cinematic experiences.”

Past recipients of the Golden Icon Award include Kate Winslet, Sylvester Stallone, and Sharon Stone.

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Clíodhna O’Sullivan’s ‘Her Hidden Fire’ Getting YA Series Adaptation

Published

7 minutes ago

September 2, 2026

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EXCLUSIVE: Irish production company Great Island has optioned Clíodhna O’Sullivan’s bestselling romantasy novel Her Hidden Fire for a young adult series adaptation.

The eight-part series will follow Éadha, a servant who has learned to survive by remaining unseen in a stratified world where magic is fuelled by enslaved ‘Fodder.’

Éadha hides her own power that she generates from within, but when she secretly gives this to Ionáin, the last heir to his family and the boy she desperately loves, she binds herself to an academy built on exploitation. Per the synopsis, “As she uncovers the truth, her power becomes a threat not just to the system, but to everyone inside it.”

Her Hidden Fire was O’Sullivan’s debut romantasy novel and has been named an Amazon Editors’ Best Book of 2026 and was selected as a Good Morning America literary pick, as well as becoming both a USA Today and UK bestseller. The second instalment will be published in November 2026 by Penguin Random House Children’s in the UK and Ireland, and by Viking in the U.S., with the third book coming out in July 2027.

Cork-based Great Island will develop the Hidden Fire franchise as a three-season series spanning the full trilogy, with the first season establishing the world and Éadha’s journey, before expanding the scale across the subsequent books. The show is in development with Great Island discussing partnerships with creative and production partners.

Great Island is known for focusing on Irish stories with international potential, and is behind the likes of Richie O’Connell dramedy series Headcase, and Joshua Kenny’s People Do Bad Things, both of which have been supported with funding from Screen Ireland. Marc Simonsson of International Creative Agency brokered the deal for For Her Hidden Fire.

Mark Kenny, CEO of Great Island, said: “We’re always looking for distinctive IP and original voices that have the potential to connect with audiences beyond Ireland, and Her Hidden Fire has exactly that. Clíodhna is a wonderful writer, and she has created a rich fantasy world around a character-driven story with high emotional stakes, and the massive audience response to the novel so far speaks to the strength of the IP.

“Bringing the series into our slate is an exciting step as we expand our scripted offering with YA. There’s no better time for this as we continue to develop projects with international potential and look for partner production, distribution and studio companies to build them with.”

“People tell you to write the story you want to read, but if I’m honest, I wrote the story I dream of watching,” added O’Sullivan. “I feel so lucky knowing Great Island has the same vision, and that it’s paired with the talent and the drive to make it a reality. I genuinely cannot wait to see how they bring Her Hidden Fire to life.”

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‘Entourage’s Doug Ellin Denies Debi Mazar’s “Disgusting” Weight Claim

Published

32 minutes ago

September 2, 2026

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Doug Ellin, the creator and writer of Entourage, has said that he does not recognize Debi Mazar‘s claim about being fat-shamed on the HBO series’ “toxic” set.

In an interview with The Times of London, Mazar alleged that Entourage producers did not approve of her body after she gave birth to her second child in 2006. She did not call out any of Entourage‘s creative team by name.

“Season one was a joy-fest. But in the third season, the set was a testosterone-fueled environment,” she said. “I’m tough, but it got toxic towards the end for me.”

The Goodfellas actress continued: “And I’d had my second baby and they didn’t like that I got fat, even though I got skinny again. It was complicated because I’m outspoken and never held back my discontent.”

She added: “But I always was professional and I’m grateful I was on it. It was a lot of fun, until it wasn’t.”

Ellin responded to the allegation on X/Twitter. “My thoughts are this is disgusting. Never, ever did myself or anyone that matters care or discuss Debi Mazar’s body. I would one million percent embrace any woman who got pregnant,” he wrote.

My thoughts are this is disgusting. Never, ever did myself or anyone that matters care or discuss Debi Mazar’s body. I would one million percent embrace any woman who got pregnant. The only bodies on the show I ever commented on were Adrian’s ( I wanted him more muscular) and… https://t.co/wMRgqXzChi

— Doug Ellin (@mrdougellin) September 1, 2026

He added: “The only bodies on the show I ever commented on were Adrian’s ( I wanted him more muscular) and @jerryferrara who I wanted fatter. I will forever feel bad about that because I didn’t realize the health implications at the time and now couldnt be happier for Jerry’s transformation.”

Mazar starred in Entourage across its eight seasons from 2004 to 2011, where she portrayed Shauna Roberts, publicist to Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier).