2023-04-29 06:01:03
This Sunday in April, the « president » followed his pre-game routine to the letter. He arrived at the stadium in a minivan with smoked windows, under escort, from the palace where he is used to. He greeted his guests, while taking care to avoid those who might bring the evil eye. Then he sat in the center of the Autorita stand, that of the officials and VIPs. His wife, his lawyers and his friends placed themselves around him, according to the winning disposition, dictated by him alone. When the public at the Maradona stadium chanted the names of the players of Napoli, his football club, one by one, the elegant slicked-back haired man remained unfazed.
Nineteen years after saving the club from bankruptcy, Aurelio De Laurentiis, a film producer, relishes his success and the reception, for a league match, of the great AC Milan. However, that evening, the scenario will escape him… Three minutes after the kick-off, the Curva B, the tribune of the most fiery ultras, begins to insult him by sending him back to his original sin: « De Laurentiis, you are not Neapolitan! » In fact, the man is Roman, and the nuance is important. Despite everything, this reputedly impulsive septuagenarian controls his nerves, like a sphinx in the midst of chaos: he knows that his team, despite their defeat of the day, should soon conquer their first championship title since 1990, in the time of the “god” Maradona . And if the coronation is confirmed, it is to him, the Roman, that the ungrateful Naples will owe it in part.
Aurelio De Laurentiis has long done his accounts at the end of the calendar year rather than in the spring; the eye is not riveted on the results of football but on those of the box office of Christmas. Isn’t he the king of “cinepanettone”, those family comedies that made his fortune and his fame? Christmas on the Nile, christmas in india, Christmas in Rio… The inexhaustible vein has often allowed him to exceed one million admissions and to fill his trophy cabinet: 50 Biglietti d’oro and 15 David di Donatello. Aurelio De Laurentiis has produced more than 400 films since entering the profession in 1975 with the Filmauro company, launched with his father, Luigi De Laurentiis.
Failed football club
At 73, the « president » bears this particle name so often appearing in the credits. His uncle, Dino, in his time produced Italian masterpieces like Bitter rice (1949), or The street (1954), but also “made in USA” films, such as Serpico (1973) or Conan the barbarians (1982). It was he, the uncle Dino, who opened the doors of America to this family from Torre Annunziata, a seaside town located at the foot of Vesuvius where their ancestor ran a pasta factory. Since then, the De Laurentiis have become a global dynasty, going back and forth from Rome to Hollywood. Until an unmissable business opportunity takes Aurelio to the Gulf of Naples.
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