‘Perfect Strangers' Director Scores Smash Hit With New Comedy ‘Madly' With Raft of Remake Deals to Close at Cannes Market (EXCLUSIVE)
'Perfect Strangers' director Paolo Genovese has done it again with a new concept comedy titled 'Madness' that is set to hit the global market after scoring mightily in Italy.
'Madness' – which is titled 'FolleMente' in Italy – depicts a first date between a man and a woman in Rome and features all the voices that live in their brains which oscillate between embarrassment and laughter, each played by a different actor. The romance-tinged comedy has scored more than 2 million admissions and grossed more than $18 million at the Italian box office since it's Feb. 20 local release via RAI Cinema's 01 Distribution — and is still going strong.
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Genovese co-wrote the screenplay with Isabella Aguilar, Lucia Calamaro, Paolo Costella and Flaminia Gressi.
'We are getting remake requests from all over the world,' producer Raffaella Leone tells Variety, adding that this time around 'we want to manage things a bit differently' from what happened with 'Perfect Strangers,' meaning that her Leone Film Group is 'looking to coproduce the film's remakes in European countries such as Spain, France, and Germany,' she said, adding that 'we are discussing the possibility with Paolo that he could direct the U.S. adaptation.'
Leone Film Group will be 'taking an office in Cannes,' she said, where they expect to close a slew of deals on 'Maybe.' RAI Cinema International Distribution is handling sales on the readymade Italian version of the new Genovese film on which Leone says a slew of deals are already being negotiated that will also officially be sealed in Cannes.
'Perfect Strangers,' which launched in 2016 and was sold by Medusa, holds the Guiness Book of World Record for the most remade movie in cinema history, having spawned remakes in 24 territories including France, Germany, Spain, Greece, and South Korea. According to Leone these remakes have grossed some $400 million, excluding the U.S. where the The Weinstein Company held the rights that were long put on hold after the company went under.
Raffaella and Andrea Leone are the lead producers on 'FolleMente' – which stars an A-list Italian cast featuring Edoardo Leo and Pilar Fogliati as the leads and Claudia Pandolfi, Vittoria Puccini, Emanuela Fanelli, Maria Chiara Giannetta and Marco Giallini, Maurizio Lastrico, Claudio Santamaria and Rocco Papaleo. The hit film is co-produced by Leone Film Group's Lotus Production with RAI Cinema and in association with Disney+, which has streaming rights for top European territories, and Vice Pictures.
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