Arancia Studio, an Italian creative atelier focused on comics and IP development, today announced Napoli-New York, an original graphic novel written by French acclaimed writer Jean-David Morvan, based on the film manuscript of the same name by revered director Federico Fellini. The project was one of the last works from the legendary Italian director and was co-written by Opium Den writer Tullio Pinelli.
Napoli-New York is a fictional story based on historical, real-world events from Naples in 1946, following one of 200 city air raids during World War II. After the collapse of her house, Celestina, a child tested by her complicated life, embarks on a journey with a clever and ingenuitive street urchin (a “scugnizzo”) named Carmine. The two plan to travel to New York City in search of Celestina’s older sister Agnese, who has taken residence there with her American husband. However, a chance meeting with Joseph Garofalo, a grumpy naval officer who discovers the two stowaways, will change the course of their young lives.
The graphic novel is set to be written by French comics legend Jean-David Morvan (Spirou et Fantasio, Merlin, Wake), whose books have sold more than three million copies worldwide. Morvan will team up with Italian artist Ste Tirasso (Laika).
“During my life as a scriptwriter, I invented stories and universes, worked on biographies and adaptations, but there’s one thing I’ve never done before: adapt a manuscript meant for a movie into a graphic novel, especially from such a master,” says Jean-David Morvan. “The story takes place in two cities: New York City, which I know very well, and Naples, which I don’t know yet. I plan to take time to visit and really feel the spirit of the city, so that everything I learn can become part of my script.”
The graphic novel will be released internationally in 2024. News on publishing partners for this first-ever adaptation will be announced this year as well.
Additionally, Rome-based production company Paco Cinematografica, which produced Oscar-winning Giuseppe Tornatore’s The Best Offer, with original music by Oscar-winning Ennio Morricone, and the highly anticipated D’Innocenzo Brothers’ Sky Studios series Dostoevskij, is now producing the film’s adaptation of the manuscript by Fellini and Pinelli, directed by Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores, starring Italian A-lister Pier Francesco Favino.
Images via Arancia Studio
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