Italy’s I Wonder Pictures has acquired Italian rights to three new titles from A24, including Benny Safdie’s hotly anticipated “The Smashing Machine” with Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt.
The move solidifies an ongoing rapport between the indie U.S. studio and the growing Italian distributor.
“Smashing Machine,” which is currently in production and stars “The Rock” as legendary MMA fighter Mark Kerr, who struggled with addiction and his marriage while becoming an icon of the sport, will be released by I Wonder in Italian cinemas in 2025.
I Wonder, which is owned and operated by Biografilm Festival founder Andrea Romeo, has a longstanding — albeit not exclusive — rapport with A24, having successfully released other A24 titles such as “The Zone of Interest,” Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
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Besides “Smashing Machine,” I Wonder’s new titles now set for Italian release in 2025 also comprise A24 horror movie “Opus” from Marc Anthony Green, starring John Malkovich and Ayo Edebiri, and Isaiah Saxon’s family film “The Legend of Ochi” with Willem Dafoe, Finn Wolfhard and Emily Watson.
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“We love A24 films and feel reflected in the stories they tell and the way they tell them,” Romeo said in a statement. The I Wonder Pictures chief went on to add that “in addition to sharing great affinity” with A24 in terms of the types of movies it produces, the two companies have “a perfect synergy” in terms of “procedures and goals” and share “a strong harmony between the respective work teams” that is “reflected in the final results.”