Fandango Boards Elio Germano-Starring 'Galileo' Ahead of Rome MIA Market Sales Launch

Fandango Sales has taken all international rights to "Galileo," an €8 million ($9 million) drama toplining Elio Germano as Galileo Galilei. The company is introducing the film to international buyers during Rome's MIA Market.

The film blends drama and comedy. It stars Germano as the pioneering scientist confronting his inquisitor before the trial over his "Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems," the treatise in which Galileo demonstrated the truth of the Copernican system over the Ptolemaic one — proving, for the first time, that the Earth revolves around the Sun.

Who is making the film?

Italo-British director Roan Johnson ("Rider") wrote the screenplay and directs. Principal photography started in late September and runs through November. Bibi Film produces with RAI Cinema and the participation of HBO Max. Fandango will also distribute the film in Italy.

Germano won top acting honors at Cannes with Daniele Luchetti's "Our Life" (2010).

How does the film tell Galileo's story?

Promotional materials describe "Galileo" as "not a conventionally biographical film, but a stream of consciousness [work] that weaves together Galileo's past and present."

The narrative arc spans several stages of the scientist's life:

• His religious calling as a boy, when his family moved to Florence in 1574 and he was sent to the monastery school of Santa Maria di Vallombrosa
• His successes at the University of Padua, including discovering Jupiter's four largest moons and the phases of Venus
• His love with partner Marina Gamba, with whom he had three children
• What the synopsis calls "the torment of choosing between faith and reason"

What is Johnson's track record?

Johnson is known for the dramedy "So Far So Good" ("Fino a qui tutto bene"), which won the audience award at the 2014 Rome Film Festival. His 2016 teen pregnancy drama "Piuma" competed in Venice. His 2026 musical "Rider," a star-crossed-lovers story set in contemporary Milan, also bowed in Venice. He has directed the long-running Sky series "I delitti del BarLume."

What do the sellers say?

"Galileo's story transcends borders, exploring the universal struggle to pursue knowledge in the face of established power," said Raffaella Di Giulio, Fandango's head of international sales and acquisitions.

"With Roan Johnson directing and Elio Germano in the lead, the film brings a globally recognized historical figure to the screen in a fresh light, balancing seriousness with playfulness, through a story that remains deeply relevant today," she added.

The takeaway: a well-funded, star-driven Italian period drama with HBO Max's participation enters the market as one of MIA's highest-profile sales titles. With shooting underway through November, buyers are being asked to commit before a finished film exists.