• Biography
• Movies

• More ...
• Filmbug Top 100
• Movie Dictionary

Browse ..
A-Z
By Date
By Year
By State
By Country

•  

Aurelio De Laurentiis is one of the most important producers of the Italian film scene. In 1975, he founded Filmauro, which has more than 300 films to its credit in terms of production and/or distribution, including Mario Monicelli's Un Borghese piccolo piccolo, Luc Besson's The Professional, The Fifth Element, Le Grand Bleu, Ettore Scola's Maccheroni, Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway, Pupi Avati's Il Testimone dello sposo, Robert Altman's Prêt-à-Porter, Roberto Benigni's Il Mostro, Pedro Almodovar's High Heels, and Kika, Cristina Comencini's Matrimoni, J. J. Bigas Luna's Jamon jamon, Blake Edwards' Il Figlio della Pantera Rosa, Giovanni Veronesi's Per amore, solo per amore, David Lynch's Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart, Francesco Nuti's Donne con le gone, Joel and Ethan Coen's Barton Fink, Carlo Vanzina's S.P.Q.R. 2000 e 1/2 anni fa, Michael Cimino's Year of the Dragon, Neri Parenti's Paparazzi, Roman Polanski's Pirates and Bitter Moon, The Blair Witch Project, Francis Véber's The Dinner Game, The Closet and Tais-toi, Ridley Scott's Hannibal, Enrico and Carlo Vanzina's Le Barzellette, Giovanni Veronesi's Che ne sara di noi, and Tutto in quella notte.

De Laurentiis is the mind behind a series of movies that have become real blockbusters, reaching the top box office positions every year, including the series Amici miei, Vacanze di Natale, Yuppies and A spasso nel tempo. After bringing millions of people into movie houses, these films have enjoyed very high television ratings and video sales. The most recent hits have been Natale sul Nilo, which was Italy's most successful film of 2002, and Natale in India, a top box office hit of 2003. Other noteworthy films include Le Barzellette and Che ne sara di noi, which have been great hits with audiences and critics in the first months of 2004.

De Laurentiis' activities as producer are not confined to the Italian cinema. He has also co-produced such French films as Tais-toi and Le Rivières Pourpres 2. At present, he is developing various international projects, such as Io uccido (based on Giorgio Faletti's bestseller) and I Beati Paoli (based on Luigi Natoli's novel).

De Laurentiis' company Filmauro not only finances films, but also has its own movie house distribution circuit and video distribution system. From 1993 to 2003, De Laurentiis was president of the International Federation of Film Producers Associations, which has 26 member countries. He was then made honorary president for life in 2003. Since 1997, he has been a shareholder in Cinecittà Studios, and since October 2001, president of the National Union of Film Producers of Italy's National Association of Film, Audiovisual and Multimedia Industries. In 2000, he received a prize from the Palm Springs International Film Festival for his work as producer and distributor. In September 2002, he was nominated an Officier of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic, and in December 2002, he was awarded the Vittorio De Sica Prize for Italian cinema. In August 2003, the traditional power list of the Italian cinema, drawn up each year by Ciak and Box Office, placed De Laurentiis in first place.