Heavyweight talent powers Ischia fest

Sting, Bocelli, Tozzi feted at event

By NICK VIVARELLI

David Twohy's honeymoon-from-hell thriller 'A Perfect Getaway' will world bow with star Timothy Olyphant on hand, along with producers Ryan Kavanaugh and Mark Canton.

Turturro

The 7th Ischia Global Film and Music Festival kicked off Sunday with tributes to Sting, Andrea Bocelli, helmer Francesca Archibugi and producer Riccardo Tozzi, followed by a latenight gala dinner attended by a slew of Hollywood and Italo industryites.

Sting received the William Walton Legend award and Bocelli the social music award, while the Italian movie award went to Archibugi and Tozzi.

A boatload of top talent and heavyweight execs are expected at the weeklong extravaganza on the Italo isle, which offers preems, concerts, confabs and gala dinners, as well as thermal baths and Mediterranean beaches.

Artistic topper Pascal Vicedomini, who also heads sister event Capri Hollywood, has assembled his most ambitious lineup, with three world preems and several hot sneak previews.

Honeymoon-from-hell thriller "A Perfect Getaway," helmed by David Twohy, will world bow with star Timothy Olyphant on hand, along with producers Ryan Kavanaugh and Mark Canton. "Getaway" goes out Stateside Aug. 14 via Rogue Pictures.

Producer Avi Lerner is unveiling Nu Image's actioner "Command Performance," shot in Russia and directed by Dolph Lundgren, who also stars.

U.K. indie producer Trudie Styler, attending with husband Sting, will preem sci-fier "Moon" by tyro helmer Duncan Jones, starring Sam Rockwell. It goes out in the U.S. via Sony.

Joel Schumacher, a panelist at Ischia's World Script Market confab, is bringing footage from his in-production "Twelve," based on Nick McDonell's eponymous novel depicting teenage drug use and decadence on New York's Upper East Side.

Russian helmer Andrei Konchalosky is unveiling a 30-minute montage of his big-budget musical fantasy "The Nutcracker: The Untold Story," starring John Turturro as the Rat King, with Turturro in tow.

Austrian thesp Christoph Waltz (winner of this year's Cannes actor nod for his role in "Inglourious Basterds"), Rosario Dawson, Lindsay Lohan, Angela Bassett, Peter Fonda, Jacqueline Bisset and Italo A-listers Raoul Bova, Maria Grazia Cucinotta and Nicolas Vaporidis are among talent expected at the resort.

Ischia's Global Production Summit, which aims to prompt Hollywood/Italy co-productions, will see Harvey Weinstein, Mike Nozik, Tarak Ben Ammar, Canton and Kavanaugh, among other players hobnobbing with Italo heavyweights producer Aurelio De Laurentiis, Medusa's Giampaolo Letta and RAI Cinema's Paolo Del Brocco.