La Dolce Vita set for modern-day remake

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jul/10/la-dolce-vita-modern-day-remake

Version 0 of 1.

A remake of La Dolce Vita which will serve as an homage to the classic Federico Fellini film has been given the go ahead by the iconic Italian director’s family, reports Variety.

Fellini’s niece, Francesca Fellini, said the family had been approached “countless times” to consider “everything from remakes and reimaginings to prequels and sequels” but had always turned down requests until now. “We knew it would take very special producers and compelling circumstances to motivate the family to allow rights to be optioned,” she said.

Andrea Iervolino, whose Rome-based firm AMBI Group has bought the rights, said the company was confident of honouring the legacy of Fellini, who died in 1993 at the age of 73.

Related: Anita Ekberg, star of La Dolce Vita, dies aged 83

“All of the elements that made La Dolce Vita an instant classic will be ingredients in this new film,” said the producer. “Our vision is of a contemporary story every bit as commercial, iconic and award-worthy as the original.”

No further details regarding casting, director or plot are yet available. La Dolce Vita, which debuted in cinemas in 1960, is considered one of the greatest moments in Italian cinema. The film won the Palme D’Or at the 1960 Cannes film festival and was nominated for four Oscars, winning the prize for best costume design. It is perhaps best known for the iconic scene in which bleached blonde Swedish-American movie star Sylvia (Anita Ekberg) wades into Rome’s famous Trevi fountain.

The remake looks set to arrive following critical acclaim for another famous Italian director’s celluloid paean to Roman hedonism. Paolo Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty, about an ageing socialite (Toni Servillo) whose disaffected journey through the streets of the eternal city recalls that of the earlier film’s hard-partying Marcello Rubini (Marcello Mastroianni), won the best foreign language film Oscar in March last year.