Sales outfit Piperplay has boarded international sales for Edoardo Gabbriellini's true crime drama *The City of the Living* (*La città dei vivi*) and released its first trailer, ahead of the film's world premiere in Venice's Orizzonti competition and its North American debut at Toronto's Centrepiece section. The film is loosely based on Nicola Lagioia's best-selling true-crime book about the brutal 2016 murder of a young man in Rome that shocked the country, though Gabbriellini's adaptation takes a tender, poetic approach focused on the human and emotional roots of the crime rather than reconstructing the killing itself.

The film stars newcomer Emanuele Maria di Stefano in his first leading role as Luca, alongside Gaia Merlonghi, Simona Senzacqua, Roberta Mattei and Valerio Mastandrea. It is produced by Eagle Pictures, Cinemaundici and Lungtafilm with HBO Max's participation, and marks another crime-focused feature from Gabbriellini following his previous film *Holiday*; Luca Guadagnino, who directed Gabbriellini as an actor in *I Am Love*, is among the producers. Rome-based Piperplay, a 2025 joint venture between PiperFilm and Playtime within the Vuelta Group, also has Locarno and Venice titles including *Kettiche* and *God Laughs* on its current festival slate.