©Courtesy of “The Best Offer“, Warner Brothers

Giuseppe Tornatore (“Cinema Paradiso,” “Ennio“), an Italian director who won the Oscar for his work on Cinema Paradiso, is scheduled to direct The First Dollar, a biopic about Bank of America founder Amedeo Peter Giannini, who helped develop Hollywood’s emerging film industry.

Giannini was brought up in a family of Italian immigrants in San Jose, California, and he founded Bank of Italy in San Francisco in 1904, which eventually became Bank of America.

A cast of Italian and international actors will be used by Tornatore to shoot the Giannini biography in English.

The high-end film will be produced by Italy’s RAI Cinema and Kavak Film, a Rome-based company that has worked with prominent Italian filmmakers such as Marco Bellocchio (“The Traitor“) and others.

The screenplay for ”The First Dollar” is being finished by Tornatore, who intends to explore how Giannini revolutionized banking by providing credit to ordinary people, including immigrants, workers, women, and families, who were previously excluded, according to promotional materials.

“The First Dollar” is Tornatore’s fourth English-language work, following his work on “The Legend of 1900“, Art World thriller “The Best Offer” with Donald Sutherland, and 2016’s “Correspondence” with Olga Kurylenko and Jeremy Irons.

Tornatore most recently helmed hit Ennio Morricone doc “Ennio,” in 2022, and the 2025 docufilm “Brunello: The Gracious Visionary,” about Italy’s “King of Cashmere” Brunello Cucinelli.

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