01/07/2008

Medusa has changed its look. “We’ve taken it to the hair dresser,” quipped company CEO Giampaolo Letta about the new logo, which is less “curly” than the previous one. This is the first new aspect of the 2008/2009 slate, presented today in Rome. Said Letta: “There are 30 titles, ranging from comedies to arthouse films, that attempt to unite quality with commercial results”. An achievable goal given the results of the past months.

“In 2007 we made €110m at the box office and had a 17.3%market share,” continued Letta, who is also satisfied with the “great results for Un’estate al mare, an experiment intended to open a new path, which we will attempt again next year”. The film by the Vanzina brothers surpassed the €1m mark during its opening weekend, which was not only sunny (which means that Italians usually shy away from cinemas) but also featured the football championships.

Moreover, Medusa is the largest producer and distributor of Italian cinema, a position they do not want to lose. “We’ve allocated €60m for production alone, another €15-20m for marketing, and another €15-20m for acquiring foreign films,” Letta explained.

The upcoming slate will open with Pupi Avati’s new film, Il papà di Giovanna, which many are certain will show at the Venice Film Festival. The festival will also present two other Medusa-distributed titles: announced opening film Burn After Reading by Joel and Ethan Coen and (announced this morning by Medusa) Guillermo Arriaga’s feature debut, The Burning Plain.

With regard to Italian films, from October to December Medusa are set to release three comedies: Vincenzo Salemme’s No problem!, Enrico Oldoini’s La fidanzata di papà and Christmas title Il cosmo sul comò, a film in episodes starring comic trio Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo and directed by Marcello Cesena.

“We also have very diverse films,” added Letta, “and are paying particular attention to younger directors and screenwriters”: from Volfango De Biasi (whose Iago is a youthful interpretation of Othello) to Maria Sole Tognazzi (L’uomo che ama).

There are also the well-known names: Giuseppe Tornatore and his highly anticipated blockbuster Baaria; Pappi Corsicato’s return to cinema (with the Almodovar-esque Il seme della discordia) and Michele Placido’s Il grande sogno. From among the Europeans, there is great curiosity over Welcome to the Sticks [+see also:
trailer
film profile], France’s biggest-ever box office hit. “It was a challenge we wanted to take,” said Letta, “despite the problems we’ll have dubbing it”.

(Translated from Italian)