The vital flow of Hollywood productions has returned at full strength to Rome’s Cinecittà soundstages, which has been undergoing a radical overhaul that is transforming the iconic facilities into state-of-the-art studios for the digital age.
Shooting recently wrapped on the U.S. sci-fi thriller “White Mars,” toplining Luke Newton (“Bridgerton”) and Lucy Hale (“Pretty Little Liars”) and co-financed by XYZ Films and Singularity Ent. The pic was filmed entirely at Cinecittà’s Theater 18, which houses one of the world’s largest LED stages and has become a fundamental asset. And pre-production is underway on Mel Gibson’s “The Resurrection of the Christ,” which will use Cinecittà’s sprawling new Studio 22 facility as its main hub this summer. Gibson had been scouting other European facilities for the sequel to his blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ,” which shot at Cinecittà more than 20 years ago. The director and his Icon Prods. were lured back to Rome by Cinecittà CEO Manuela Cacciamani who, working with line producer Marco Valerio Pugini, ensured that the studio’s 38,000-sq.-ft. state-of-the-art soundstage would be ready in time.
Ridley Scott also recently set up camp at Cinecittà for “The Dog Stars,” and Disney and Universal will soon start shooting big projects on the studio lot.
“There are three main pillars that bolster the activity of a studio of this size and capacity,” says Cacciamani, who has been leading Cinecittà since July 2024. “One is tax incentives. The other is what you can offer in terms of efficiency — which means the size of the soundstages, new technology and quality of artists and craftsmen. And the third is the capability of line producers who, at the end of the day, play a crucial part in convincing a studio to make the investment.”
Italy’s 40% tax rebate for international film and TV shoots — which has no cap and allows producers to get cash back during production, month to month, and reduce costs as they go along — is “fully operational,” says Nicola Borrelli, head of the film department of Italy’s culture ministry. Last year, the government dithered about reforming the credit, slowing down production; however, “the [financing] window is open and the mechanism is the same as before, which makes our tax rebate among the most attractive in the world,” Borrelli adds.
A few months ago, Borrelli met in Rome with Gibson’s team to personally assure them that rumors that Italy’s international incentive would be modified “are not grounded in reality,” he points out.
Meanwhile, Cacciamani is forging ahead with Cinecittà’s six-year revamp that started in April 2021, when the government-owned facilities secured a multi-million dollar loan provided by the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund. Under that plan, Cinecittà has been renovating and expanding its facilities to reach more than twice its production capacity with 25 soundstages, at least three of which are among the largest in Europe.
Another crucial aspect of Cinecittà’s renewal is its recently installed state-of-the-art video and audio post-production facilities, including dubbing and mixing rooms and a 35mm and 16mm film development and restoration lab.
Significantly, Cinecitta’s post services have recently been chosen for films not shot at the studios, such as Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man” and Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez,” besides works fully filmed there including Roland Emmerich’s TV series “Those About to Die” and Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer.”
“Post-production is one of our points of pride,” says Cacciamani, who notes that, on the business side, being at the forefront in this field “really helps close package deals.”
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