Pellegrini to adapt Hornby's 'Not a Star'

ROME -- Italo helmer Lucio Pellegrini is adapting U.K. author Nick Hornby's novella "Not a Star," about a mother who learns her teen son is a porn actor, with Warner Bros. on board to co-produce and distribute the pic in Italy. Shooting on the first Italian-language adaptation of Hornby's work is underway in Turin with popular Italo TV comedienne Luciana Littizzetto playing the mother, thesp Rocco Papaleo ("Basilicata Coast to Coast") the father, and Pietro Castellitto, son of Italo A-lister Sergio Castellitto, as the enterprising young porn performer. Pellegrini, known locally for well-crafted commercial laffers, such as "The Easy Life," "Now or Never" and "So Mambo," is transposing to Turin Hornby's Blighty-set tale in which nosy neighbors inform the mom of a live-at-home 19 year old that he is the protag of a film titled "Meet the Fuckers," and other adult vid pics. Topic is especially relevant to Italy, which is plagued by double-digit youth unemployment. Beppe Caschetto's IBC Movie is co-producing with Warner Bros., with support from the Turin/Piedmont Film Commission, and plans for an Italo spring 2012 release via Warners. English-language adaptations of Hornby's works for the big screen include Stephen Frears' "High Fidelity," Chris and Paul Weitz's "About a Boy" and Lone Scherfig's "An Education." Contact Nick Vivarelli at nvivarelli@gmail.com