Netflix Picks Up Italian Rom-Com ‘Still Time’ For Global Release

Netflix has acquired global rights to Italian rom-com “Era Ora” (“Still Time”), marking a rare instance in which an Italian comedy is set to gain worldwide visibility.

“Still Time” is directed by Alessandro Aronadio, a Los Angeles Film School graduate whose first work “One Life, Maybe Two” launched from Berlin’s Panorama section.

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The comedy stars Edoardo Leo (“Perfect Strangers”) as a workaholic named Dante who is perpetually late to everything important, and Barbara Ronchi (soon to be seen in Marco Bellocchio’s “La Conversione”) as his girlfriend Alice. The twist comes when Dante winds up leaping ahead a year in his life every few hours, just as he wants to slow down.

After showing up hours late for his 40th birthday party, Dante wakes up the next day and it’s already the day of his 41st birthday and Alice is four months pregnant. Then, upon waking up again, Alice puts a baby girl in his arms. And so on.

“Still Time” is an adaptation of Australian rom-com “Long Short Story” directed by Josh Lawson. It’s co-produced by Italy’s BIM Produzione, which is a Wild Bunch Group Company; Palomar, a unit of France’s Mediawan Group; and Italy’s Vision Distribution.

The film, which launched positively from the Rome Film Festival in October, will drop on Netflix as an Italian original, on March 16, in 190 countries.

Although it’s rare for Italian comedies and genre movies at large to play globally these days, there are sporadic cases in which they’ve become international hits. One case study is Paolo Genovese’s “Perfect Strangers,” which following its 2016 Italian release made more than $30 million worldwide and spawned over 20 remakes. Another example is Alessandro Genovesi’s satirical whodunnit “7 Women and a Murder,” produced by Wildside, which recently made Netflix’s list of top ten most watched non-English films.

“We are thrilled to partner with Netflix to bring ‘Still Time’ to audiences around the world,” said Bim Produzione CEO Riccardo Russo. “This film is a touching representation of the talent and creativity of Italian filmmakers and actors, and we are proud to have played a role in bringing it to life.”

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