Capotondi
BERLIN -- The story of Elisabeth, empress of Austria, also known as "Sisi," is heading to European TV as a lavish two-part co-production.
Jan Mojto's EOS Entertainment is teaming with Susanne Porsche's Sunset Austria and Italian shingle Publispei to produce the project for pubcasters ZDF in Germany, Austria's ORF and Italy's RAI.
Italian thesp Cristiana Capotondi toplines as the duchess of Bavaria who became empress of Austria and queen of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia after marrying Emperor Francis Joseph I in 1854.
Austrian helmer Xaver Schwarzenberger is directing the production, which also stars Martina Gedeck ("The Baader Meinhof Complex") and David Rott as the young emperor.
Pic will begin shooting in Vienna this month before moving on to locations in Austria and Italy.
Initially shot in German and Italian to accommodate its European cast, the production will be dubbed later into appropriate languages.
The story of Empress Elisabeth was made famous by late Austrian actress Romy Schneider in the hugely popular "Sissi" movie series of the 1950s. EOS recently produced "Romy," a TV biopic about Schneider for ARD and ORF.
Contact Ed Meza at
ed.meza@mannaa.de