Mystery Lingers In Roma Vetus

Australian novelist Colleen McCullough's historical best sellers about ancient Rome are at the center of a dispute between Filmholding SPA -- the mysterious company developing Roma Vetus, a mammoth set of ancient Rome to be turned into a theme park -- and Mediaset, Italy's top private broadcaster.

Both claim to own rights to the works by the author of "The Thorn Birds" and are developing TV projects based on them.

At MIFED on Wednesday, Filmholding managing director Pietro Terenzio unveiled the Roma Vetus project to be built on a sprawling, 145-acre complex near Urbino in central Italy. Large sections of ancient Rome, including the Colosseum and the Caracalla Baths, will be rebuilt as full-scale, permanent constructions surrounded by more disposable, modular structures.

The Roma Vetus model has been on display all week in the middle of MIFED's A-1 area.

"We will rebuild ancient Rome to accomplish two things -- a huge TV and movie set that will subsequently become a theme park," Terenzio said. The set will be used to shoot a TV series based on McCullough's books; Terenzio said Filmholding has rights to those works.

Terenzio didn't, however, explain how the estimated $250 million project will be financed. All he said was that Filmholding's project is financed by a foreign merchant bank through a Luxembourg-based company whose business plan will be unveiled by next year.

Terenzio denied rumors that Giancarlo Parretti, the Italian financier and former MGM chief, is the man behind the Roma Vetus project. "This is one of the few things I can flatly deny. I have never met Giancarlo Parretti," Terenzio said.

As for rights to McCullough's books, Terenzio said he purchased them last month from Italian producer Mario Gallo, with whom Mediaset has been in negotiations. Mediaset announced at MIPCOM last month that it has an agreement with Gallo for a TV series described as an ancient Rome-based equivalent of "Dallas." Mediaset confirmed Wednesday that it has an agreement with Gallo, who had no immediate comment.

Luigi Pellegrin, the architect designing Roma Vetus, said he expects it to be operational by 2000.