Two development plans for the company: one based on “legacy” titles and the other based on original projects. This is where the future of Titanus will pass, a historic Italian film production house founded in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo, now in its third generation represented by President Guido Lombardo. It is the oldest film company in the world (together with the French Pathè) and the only one still in the hands of the original family. «We start again with a new method, a new target, but Titanus remains the same: popular works and masterpieces produced just for the pleasure of doing it. The Titanus always remains the same, the same style ”, explained Guido Lombardo.
The “Legacy” projects
Titanus Legacy draws on the icons of the past, but always current. These are stories that still offer infinite possibilities in the creation of prequels, sequels, reboots, remakes. The pool is large, being able to start from a library of almost 400 titles. Four Legacy titles have been announced, the first of which is Piedone. the character made known by Bud Spencer will now be played by Salvatore Esposito. «For me – said the actor who became famous playing Gennaro Savastano in the“ Gomorra ”series – Bud Spencer Piedone was an idol, a superhero for all kids like me. We will try to respect this character as much as possible and not to disappoint the fans, starting with myself ». La Ciociara aims to tell the before and after of the events narrated in De Sica’s masterpiece of cinema that made Sophia Loren an international star: a series that aims to be both a prequel and a sequel to the film in which the lives of Cesira and Rosetta they are traced back to their beginning, from which 100 years have passed. Two other projects will concern “Palermo-Milan – The series” and “Phenomena”: the cult horror of Dario Argento.
The “Originals” projects
The Titanus Originals line will include projects created from scratch. The first is “Elena’s war”: the true story of Elena Di Porto, a Roman Jew will go down in history for having saved countless lives during a roundup in the Ghetto of Rome. The Titanus development manager, Duilio Simonelli, and the co-author of the story and screenplay Fabio Morici then introduced the film “Agnese e Francesca”: the story of the friendship between two brave and strong women who carry a heavy burden on their shoulders: being wives of the magistrates Falcone and Borsellino. The third project is “Ludwig”: the true story of the unsuspected couple of Italy’s most prolific serial killers, Abel and Furlan.
“A solid company”
«Titanus is a company that has belonged to the Lombardo family for 118 years and there is no project of listing or sale of shares or m & a. It is a solid company that can count on income from the rental of the studios and its library. It is a capitalized company, with significant revenues and which has a cultural heritage that can still give a lot »replies Stefano Bethlen, general manager of Titanus at Il Sole 24 Ore. As for the platforms «they represent one of the market players, very important. Thanks to the hunger for content on the part of the platforms, there is a lot of demand for the product. But he is not the only player and he is not our only or major client ».
History
The presentation of the Titanus development line-up was held in Rome. The Casa del Cinema hosted a meeting with an eye to the future, but breathing in the history of cinema. Because we are still talking about a film production house that was born in Naples in 1904 and boasts about 1,500 titles between produced and distributed. The founder Gustavo was succeeded by his son Goffredo who led the company to the pinnacle of success until the 2000s, establishing himself as one of the most important producers in the history of cinema, as told in the extraordinary documentary film The Last Leopard directed by the director Oscar winner Giuseppe Tornatore.