After nearly two years since his last Italian film Loro debuted in 2018, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty) has officially set his next directing project with Netflix‘s forthcoming film titled The Hand of God. Sorrentino’s most recent project was HBO’s limited series The New Pope which starred Jude Law and John Malkovich and concluded its run earlier this year.
“Paolo is an incredible storyteller who has cemented his place on the world cinema stage. The Hand Of God is a personal film that is taking him back to Naples, his hometown, and is a beautifully written story in his signature style,” Head of Netflix Films Scott Stuber said in a statement (via Deadline). “To build a great film studio you need great filmmakers from every part of the world, telling stories in all languages. With the majority of our membership outside of the U.S., under David’s leadership, we’ve been growing our international film business over the past year and look forward to bringing Paolo’s story and so many others to a global audience.”
RELATED: CS Interview: Toya Turner Talks Netflix’s Warrior Nun
According to the outlet, The Hand of God will be based on the Italian filmmaker’s original idea that he made with his team. The film is also being described as “a personal film” for Sorrentino as he goes back to his roots with the new film expected to shoot in his hometown of Naples, Italy where it is also known as the location of his 2001 direction debut film One Man Up.
“I’m excited at the idea of filming in Naples again exactly twenty years after my first film. The Hand Of God represents for the first time in my career an intimate and personal film, a novel of formation at once light-hearted and painful.” Sorrentino said. “I’m delighted to partake in this adventure with producer Lorenzo Mieli, his company The Apartment and Netflix. The mutual understanding between myself and Teresa Moneo, David Kosse and Scott Stuber from Netflix on the meaning of the film was immediate and dazzling. They made me feel at home, an ideal condition, because this is precisely what this film means to me: going back home.”
The film will be produced by Sorrentino along with Lorenzo Mieli through his The Apartment Pictures banner.
RELATED: Jennifer Lawrence To Star In Film Adaptation Of Mob Girl
Paulo Sorrentino gained international recognition for 2013 film The Great Beauty which had earned him numerous awards including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe award for Best Foreign Language Film. He then went on to produced his first Italian-English language miniseries The Young Pope which premiered on HBO in 2016. Sorrentino has also signed on to direct the film adaptation of Mob Girl with Jennifer Lawrence attached for the leading role.
(Photo by Stephane Cardinale – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
