Dino De Laurentiis – R.I.P!

Legendary Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis died early this morning (Thursday 11th November 2010) in Los Angeles at age 91 – Variety reports.

De Laurentiis began as a film producer in Italy in the early 1940s and after shifting his operations to Los Angeles a few decades ago, continued through the 2007 ‘Hannibal Rising‘ – the prequel to the Hannibal Lecter saga.

In the post-war era, Italian film became an artistic and commercial force around the world, and De Laurentiis worked on a number of the key films from this period, including ‘Bitter Rice‘ (1949) and two Federico Fellini classics, the 1954 ‘La Strada‘ and 1957’s ‘Nights of Cabiria‘.

Among the movies that defined his career, he produced or exec produced numerous other pics, including the 1968 ‘Barbarella‘; ‘Serpico‘ (1973); ‘Three Days of the Condor‘ (1975); the 1976 remake of ‘King Kong‘ starring Jessica Lange and Jeff Bridges; and the 1984 sci-fi classic ‘Dune‘.

It goes without saying that his expertise and directing style will be missed!