First Teaser Drops For Paolo Sorrentino’s Silvio Berlusconi Movie (Which Will Be A Two-Parter In Italy); Cannes Is Calling

Nobody does electro-fueled political biopics quite like Paolo Sorrentino. The Italian filmmaker’s regular producers Indigo Film have released some slick first footage of the auteur’s new movie Loro (Them), about controversial Italian politician Silvio Berlusconi. I have confirmed with those close to the film that there will be a two-part version of the movie (Sorrentino’s decision), but that version will only be released in Italy. The rest of the world will see one movie.

There are no official release dates yet, but we understand that the first part of the film will debut in Italy on April 20 — pre-Cannes Film Festival, which runs May 8-19 — and that no date has been set for the second installment. One Italian media report has pinned the second part to May 24.

Sorrentino, whose 2013 drama The Great Beauty won the Foreign Language Oscar, is a Cannes regular and Loro is expected to find its way to the Croisette. Cannes prefers world premieres but has made exceptions in the past. In this case, the festival would get the world premiere of the single movie, anyway.

According to this footage, Loro looks like a return to Sorrentino’s masterful Il Divo days. In the film, the auteur’s regular collaborator Toni Servillo (The Great Beauty) plays the sleazy billionaire and media mogul-turned-Prime Minister. The Italian-French co-production — Indigo Film for Italy, Pathé and France 2 Cinéma for France — will be distributed locally by Universal Pictures International Italy for Focus Features. U.S. rights are expected to be snapped up at Cannes (the Trump parallels are obvious).

Sorrentino’s HBO miniseries The Young Pope starred Jude Law. Follow-up The New Pope is in development.

Check out the teaser above.