If you thought you’d never have a reason to utter Ghostbusters, CUJO and La Dolce Vita in the same sentence, you must be blissfully oblivious to the current state of film, and its incessant reification of the adage “history repeats itself” — which, filmmakers should note, tends to be employed as a pessimistic statement. For, now there’s talk of a “reimagining” of Fellini’s 1960 Palme d’Or-winning La Dolce Vita.
As Variety reports, The ABMI group (based in Rome) has finalized an option agreement with the Fellini family for the rights to make an “homage” to La Dolce Vita. It’ll be produced by Daniele Di Lorenzo, through his company, LDM Productions. Francesca Fellini, Federico’s niece, said:
We’ve been approached countless times and asked to consider everything from remakes and reimaginings to prequels and sequels. We knew it would take very special producers and compelling circumstances to motivate the family to allow rights to be optioned.
Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi of ABMI made the official announcement, with Iervolino issuing the very bold claim that “all of the elements that made La Dolce Vita an instant classic will be ingredients in this new film,” and saying that he envisions a “contemporary” and “commercial” film “as award-worthy and iconic as the original.”
Fellini’s La Dolce Vita follows Marcello Rubini, a reporter for a gossip newspaper who spends his time gallivanting through Rome and romancing a plethora of women (including, occasionally, the woman to whom he’s engaged). If the producers want to make this new version timely, perhaps they’ll make him a blogger glued to his computer, romancing clicks on Twitter, and ceaselessly writing about remakes like this.