Global Showbiz Briefs: Rome, Poland, UK

‘The Lady’ Set As Opener At Rome Fest Luc Besson’s The Lady, the political drama starring Michelle Yeoh and inspired by the recently freed Burmese opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has been tapped to open the Rome International Film Festival on Oct. 27. It won’t be the first stop for the film, which will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 12. Reports: RTL, Time Warner Look At Polish Broadcaster TVN Shares of stock in Polish TV network TVN rose 10% today amid reportsof sales talks.Europe’s biggest commercial broadcaster RTL Group is interested in ITI Group’s $800 million controlling stake in the Polish broadcaster, according to Reuters. AndTVN CEOMarkus Tellenbach has met with Time Warner reps,Warsaw’s Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper reported. Hacking Scandal Inspires Satire On UK’s Channel 4 The show, with the working title Hacks, will beset in a fictional paper where staff indulge in phone hacking, blagging and “pinging” to get a story by any means necessary. Guy Jenkin (Drop Dead Donkey) is writing the scriptbased on the scandal which has brought about the closure of the News Of The World and exits ofNews International execs and top Scotland Yard figures. ‘The Hour’ Back For Second Season On BBC The BBC confirmed today that the series, written and created by Abi Morgan,will be back for six more episodes in its second season on BBC Two. Set ina BBC newsroom in the 1950s,The Hour is produced by Kudos Film and Television.