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Abel Ferrara isn’t scared of AI. In fact, he is embracing how “cool” the technology is, especially when it comes to dubbing.

Ferrara, who recently directed “Padre Pio,” told Deadline while at the Taormina Film Festival that AI made an Italian dub possible for the feature starring Shia Labeouf. “Padre Pio” premiered at Venice 2022 and was later released in 2023. An Italian release is taking place in July 2024.

“It looks like I directed in Italian, it’s very cool,” Ferrara said of utilizing AI for the dub. He added that while all of the actors sans Labeouf were Italian but spoke in English for the feature, the Italian dub is now “the perfect storm” of a cut.

“The kids acted in English, they get to watch it in Venice, they get to see it with an audience, they get the movie, they understand what they have to do then they...

Exclusive: Alongside prepping to shoot his next feature, veteran filmmaker Abel Ferrara is working on a book, he tells Deadline. Entitled Scene, Ferrara doesn’t categorize it exactly as a memoir, saying, “I’m trying to focus it more on the people that I’ve met and all the crazy sh*t in this business and around this business, than on myself. I got some crazy sh*t that’s happened to me for sure.”

Scene is due for release around the middle of next year, in Italy and the U.S. Ferrara wouldn’t be led as to who the American publisher is, but mused, “I can’t believe I actually got a book (deal).”

Ferrara should have plenty of fun material to expound on. Known for his provocative, neo-noir and often controversial content, the versatile indie stalwart has made films including The Driller Killer, King Of New York,...

Exclusive: Oscar-nominated actor Willem Dafoe is set to join the ensemble cast of of Sony Pictures’ SNL 1975 (working title), which will be directed by Jason Reitman and based on the real-life behind-the-scenes accounts of the opening episode of Saturday Night Live. Reitman and Gil Kenan penned the script.

Dafoe will play David Tebet, who was VP Talent Relations at NBC when SNL launched.

On October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. SNL 1975 is the true story of what happened behind the scenes that night in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. It depicts the chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, counting down the minutes in real time to the infamous words, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

The screenplay is based on an extensive series of interviews conducted by...