House of Gucci with Harlem’s Al Pacino is an upcoming American biographical crime film directed by Ridley Scott. The film is based on the 2001 book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden.
It stars Lady Gaga in the role of Patrizia Reggiani, who was tried and convicted of orchestrating the assassination of her ex-husband and former head of the Gucci fashion house Maurizio Gucci, portrayed by Adam Driver.
It also stars Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Jack Huston, Reeve Carney, Salma Hayek, and East Harlem’s Al Pacino.
Filming took place from February to May of 2021 in various parts of Italy. House of Gucci is scheduled to be released in the United States on November 24, 2021, by United Artists Releasing.
Premise
The film is set in 1995 and depicts the events and aftermath of the murder of Maurizio Gucci, an Italian businessman and head of the fashion house Gucci, by his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani.
Production
In June 2006, Ridley Scott was set to direct a film about the downfall of the Gucci family dynasty with Andrea Berloff writing the script, despite the family’s dismissal of the project, with Angelina Jolie and Leonardo DiCaprio rumored to play Patrizia Reggiani and Maurizio Gucci, respectively.
In February 2012, Scott’s daughter Jordan Scott had replaced him as director and was in talks with Penélope Cruz to play Reggiani. In November 2016, Wong Kar-wai took over directing the movie from Jordan Scott, with Charles Randolph writing alongside Berloff and Margot Robbie now considered to play Reggiani.
In November 2019, Ridley Scott was once again set to direct the film,[why?] with Roberto Bentivegna writing the script, and Lady Gaga set to star.
We have not heard if the film will cover the partnership between Harlem’s Dapper Dan and Gucci that was initiated in 2018 reports Harlem World Magazine.
We have not heard if the film will cover the partnership between Harlem’s Dapper Dan and Gucci that was initiated in 2018 reports Harlem World Magazine.
According to the Gucci CEO, Marco Bizzarri, the fashion house cooperated with the production and gave them full access to their archives for wardrobe and props.
In November 2019, it was announced that Gaga would play Reggiani. In April 2020, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquired the rights to the film.
By August, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Jack Huston and Reeve Carney had entered negotiations to join the cast.
Driver, Leto, Pacino, and De Niro were confirmed by October. Huston and Carney were confirmed in December along with Jeremy Irons, while De Niro had exited the film.
Dariusz Wolski announced his involvement as cinematographer that same month.
Camille Cottin joined the cast in January 2021. In March, Mădălina Diana Ghenea, Mehdi Nebbou, and Miloud Mourad Benamara were added to the cast, along with Salma Hayek, who is married to the current head of Gucci, François-Henri Pinault.
In August 2020, Deadline Hollywood reported that the filming was expected to begin when Scott completed the production of The Last Duel (2021).
On February 3, 2021, in an interview with Variety, Leto said that the film was still in the pre-production phase and they would start shooting it in Italy in the coming weeks.
Principal photography began in Rome at the end of February. Several scenes were filmed in early March in the cities of Gressoney-Saint-Jean and Gressoney-La-Trinité, specifically in the Italian Alps in the Aosta Valley, which was used to recreate the tourist complex of St. Moritz on the Switzerland border.
Filming also took place in other locations in the country such as Florence, Lake Como, and Milan. At the end of March, they returned to Rome to shoot scenes at Via Condotti. Filming wrapped on May 8, 2021.
Release
The film is scheduled to be released in the United States on November 24, 2021, and in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2021. Following its theatrical release, it will also be available to stream on Paramount+.
Reggiani’s and Gucci family’s response
In January 2021, during an interview with Italian magazine Novella 2000, Patrizia Reggiani approved that Gaga would portray her and commented she “immensely” likes her, saying “she’s a genius”.
However, in March, Reggiani gave an interview to the Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA) where she stated she was “annoyed” that Gaga had not contacted her to meet her and claimed that “it is not an economic question. I won’t get a cent from the film. It is a question of good sense and respect”. Later that month, it was confirmed that the producers did not want Gaga to meet her and they were “aware of not wanting to endorse or support the awful crime” she committed, saying Gaga had watched much footage and many documentaries, and read books about her life.
Patricia Gucci, who is Maurizio Gucci’s second cousin, told the Associated Press, in the name of the Gucci family, they were “truly disappointed” by the movie. “They are stealing the identity of a family to make a profit, to increase the income of the Hollywood system.” She added, “our family has an identity, privacy. We can talk about everything, but there is a borderline that cannot be crossed”.
According to Patrizia, the three central concerns of the family are the lack of contact with Ridley Scott, the alleged inaccuracies in the book on which the film is based, and the casting of high-profile actors to play people who weren’t connected with the murder.
She also said that the Gucci family will decide what their next course of action will be after watching the completed film.
Photo credit: Lady Gaga and Al Pacino.
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