Meta has reached an agreement with a bipartisan coalition of U.S. attorneys general to resolve one of the most consequential legal disputes over child and teen safety on social media. Approved by a federal judge on August 27, the settlement provides for payments of up to approximately $18 billion over ten years and, more significantly, substantial changes to how Instagram and Facebook operate for minors. Meta did not admit wrongdoing. The lawsuits alleged, among other claims, that Meta designed features [...]

Martin Scorsese has been officially appointed Honorary President of the Accademia del Cinema Italiano, the institution behind the David di Donatello Awards, Italy’s most prestigious film honors. The appointment, formally approved by the Academy’s Board of Directors on September 1, follows a proposal made by Italy’s Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli in agreement with the Academy’s founding members and its President, Silvia Calandrelli. For Scorsese, an Italian American, the appointment carries particular personal significance. His relationship with Italy is deeply [...]

The Dog Stars, Ridley Scott's new post-apocalyptic feature starring Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin and Margaret Qualley, has arrived simultaneously on two sides of the Atlantic, bringing to the U.S. and Italian box offices a major Hollywood production largely shot in Italy. In the United States, the 20th Century Studios release opened on August 28 with approximately $8 million at the domestic box office, placing fifth over the weekend. The result came in a crowded late-summer marketplace led for a fifth [...]

There are summers that simply perform well, and there are summers that change the way an industry talks about itself. 2026 belongs firmly to the second category. Across North America and Italy, the theatrical business was carried by two very different kinds of event: The Odyssey, Christopher Nolan's original, filmmaker-driven adaptation, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the newest entry in one of the most dependable franchises Sony and Marvel have ever built. One proved that audiences will still turn out [...]

Los Angeles has just wrapped its two most established short film festivals. The first to close was the 30th edition of the LA Shorts International Film Festival, followed shortly after by the 22nd edition of the HollyShorts Film Festival. Both events are Academy Award- and BAFTA-qualifying festivals, underscoring the role Los Angeles continues to play as a key stop on the international short film circuit. The 30th-anniversary edition of LA Shorts presented 502 films across 69 programs. Among the Italian [...]

Hollywood is betting heavily on video game IP at the very moment the industry that creates those games is weathering intense turbulence, marked by layoffs, restructurings and consolidation. The result is a paradox that is reshaping licensing strategies and the relationship between publishers and audiovisual producers. In recent months, Microsoft’s Xbox division has announced the reduction of roughly 3,200 positions – around 20% of its gaming workforce – and the spin-off of four studios, in what CEO Asha Sharma has [...]