Theme park · Castel Romano, Rome · 2014

The park where Cinema comes alive.

Thirty hectares on the old Dinocittà grounds, sets by Dante Ferretti, soundtrack by Ennio Morricone.

Act one

Dinocittà becomes
Cinecittà World.

"I have tried to put inside Cinecittà World pieces of scenography made at Cinecittà, but not only that: pieces of Italian cinema."

— Dante Ferretti
park opening, July 2014 (ANSA).

In the Sixties, on the Castel Romano hill south of Rome, Dino De Laurentiis had founded his private studios: Dinocittà. Forty hectares of soundstages for the producer of La Strada and Barabbas. Half a century later, on part of that land, the first theme park dedicated to cinema in Italy opens.

24 July 2014: Cinecittà World cuts the ribbon. Thirty hectares of park, twenty-six opening-day attractions, eight cinematic sets, four theatres. Initial investment of 250 million euros. Founding consortium: Luigi Abete (IEG — Italian Entertainment Group), Aurelio De Laurentiis, Diego Della Valle, the Haggiag family. Artistic direction: Dante Ferretti, scenographer three-time Academy Award winner (The Aviator, Sweeney Todd, Hugo). Park soundtrack composed by Ennio Morricone.

Daytime aerial view of Cinecittà World park: Cabiria gate at the centre, red Altair coaster on the left, soundstages and parking — Aerial view of Cinecittà World

Roman triumphal arch 'Aktium' at sunset, red and violet sky above the Roma area of the park — The Aktium arch in the Roma area, at sunset

Cinecittà Street at night with coloured laser shows crossing the boulevard, crowd of visitors, illuminated arches and Christmas tree at the centre — Cinecittà Street at night

Act two

Creation Art
sculpts the park.

Between 2012 and the opening of July 2014, Creation Art works full time for Cinecittà World as the main supplier of monumental scenography. The relationship is natural: since 1981 — when Ivano Ferrario entered the workshop at Cinecittà as an apprentice — that hill and those soundstages have been home.

The Cabiria Gate, inspired by Giovanni Pastrone's silent kolossal (1914), comes out of our workshops in the first months of 2014. The monumental elephant of the Indiana Adventure attraction — head sculpted on a steel skeleton, hand-worked faux skin, painted eyes — is mounted with two telescopic cranes. Cinecittà Street — the park's main street — is built by repurposing the set of Gangs of New York by Martin Scorsese (2002), which was already at the Cinecittà studios. The Aktium triumphal arch of the Roma area and the carved-stone tunnels of the chariot ride complete the map.

They are all different pieces — a 1914 silent peplum next to an Asian elephant next to a Roman triumphal arch — but made with the same technique. Hand-sculpted expanded polystyrene, fibreglass on steel structure, layered painted patina. It is the grammar of cinematic scenography applied to a park's architecture — durable for twenty years, not for four weeks.

The Cabiria entrance gate photographed in daylight with visitors and staff in front, monumental entrance arch at full scale — The Cabiria Gate, at the park's opening

The monumental Indiana Adventure elephant in daylight with palm trees around and visitors at the entrance, flowers in the foreground — The Indiana Adventure elephant, finished

Aktium water coaster with a boat full of passengers in a full wave, water splashes, ancient Roman scenography in the background — The Aktium attraction, in action

The park areas

Five worlds,
one team of sculptors.

Five park areas documented by our archive and the official Creation Art portfolio. For each, a dedicated page tells what we delivered on site.

Behind the scenes

Cinecittà goes back to making cinema —
in the form of a park.

The philosophy of Cinecittà World is told in the words of Dante Ferretti at the opening: the park as an inhabited museum of Italian cinema, where sets are not watched behind glass but walked through. Scenography is no longer just a backdrop: it is permanent architecture.

Aerial night view of Cinecittà World: Teatro 1 illuminated in rainbow colours, lit walkways, lights of Rome on the horizon — Cinecittà World, aerial night view.

30 hectares of park · 300,000 m² in Castel Romano

€250M initial investment · IEG / Abete–De Laurentiis–Della Valle consortium

40+ attractions · 8 cinematic sets · 4 theatres

Cinecittà World is a collection of dreams, evocations and cinematic references that have marked my life, both artistic and personal.

Dante Ferretti, park artistic direction opening · July 2014

Client

Cinecittà World

The Cinema and TV Theme Park — 300,000 m² in Castel Romano (Rome), more than 40 attractions and sets signed by Academy Award winner Dante Ferretti. Since 24 July 2014.

cinecittaworld.it

Tech sheet

All production data

Type: Theme park · first Italian park dedicated to cinema and television
Opening: 24 July 2014
Location: Castel Romano, Rome · site of the historic Dinocittà Studios founded by Dino De Laurentiis in the 1960s
Surface: 300,000 m² (30 hectares)
Initial investment: ~250 million euros
Artistic direction: Dante Ferretti · 3-time Academy Award winner (The Aviator 2005, Sweeney Todd 2008, Hugo 2012)
Soundtrack: Ennio Morricone
Founding consortium: Italian Entertainment Group · Luigi Abete · Aurelio De Laurentiis · Diego Della Valle · Haggiag family · CEO Stefano Cigarini since 2016
Opening attractions: 20 attractions · 8 cinematic sets · 4 theatres (today: more than 40 attractions)
Historical park areas: Cinecittà (main street) · Spaceland · Roma · Adventureland · Far West
Later additions: The Kingdom of Ice (indoor, 2018) · Aqua World (separate water park, 2019) · Roma World (gladiator park, 2020)
Our role: Strategic supplier of monumental scenography for several areas of the park. Between 2012 and the 2014 opening — and in later phases — Creation Art delivered the Cabiria entrance gate (inspired by Pastrone's 1914 kolossal), the monumental Indiana Adventure elephant, façades and details of Cinecittà Street (a repurposing of the 2002 Gangs of New York set), the Aktium triumphal arch of the Roma area, the stone tunnels of the chariot ride. Techniques: hand-carved expanded polystyrene, fibreglass on steel structure, layered painted patina. The relationship between Creation Art and Cinecittà starts in 1981 with Ivano Ferrario as an apprentice; Cinecittà World is the physical continuation of that relationship, in the form of an inhabitable park.

The park where Cinema comes alive.

Five worlds,
one team of sculptors.

Cabiria Gate

Cinecittà Street

Indiana Adventure

Roma · Aktium

Far West

Ben Hur · Roma World

Cinecittà goes back to making cinema —
in the form of a park.

Cinecittà World

The park where Cinema comes alive.

Cabiria Gate

Cinecittà Street

Indiana Adventure

Roma · Aktium

Far West

Ben Hur · Roma World

Cinecittà goes back to making cinema —in the form of a park.

Cinecittà World

Cinecittà goes back to making cinema —
in the form of a park.