Agostino De Laurentiis was born on the 8th August 1919, in Torre Annunziata, Naples, Campania, Italy, and was a film producer, widely recognized for his work on “La Strada” (1954) for which he was honored with a prestigious Academy Award, as well as “Serpico” (1973), “Dune” (1984), “Army of Darkness” (1992), “Hannibal” (2001) and “Red Dragon” (2002). Dino passed away in 2010.
Have you ever wondered how much wealth this talented Italian accumulated for life? How rich would Dino De Laurentiis be today? According to sources, it is estimated that the total of Dino De Laurentiis’ net worth, as of early 2017, would exceed the sum of $120 million, acquired through his prominent career in the moviemaking industry which was active for almost 70 years, from 1938 to 2007.
Dino De Laurentiis Net Worth $120 million
Dino grew up on the streets of Naples, selling fresh pasta made by his father. In 1937, he enrolled at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome but was forced to abandon his studies due to the beginning of the World War II. However, he didn’t abandoned his dream and worked as a propman, extra or any other odd job connected to moviemaking that he could find, and by the 1940, the 19-year-old Dino has already produced his first movie – “L’amore canta”. Upon returning from service in the Italian army during WWII, Dino continued in movie production, and released “The Bandit” (Il bandito) in 1946. These engagements provided the basis for Dino De Laurentiis’ net worth.
This was followed by successful collaborations with Federico Fellini, and work on his cult classics “La Strada” (1954) and “The Nights of Cabiria” (1957). In 1960, De Laurentiis opened his own production company, Dino De Laurentiis Cinematografica, which in its 10-year-long operating life released numerous Italian as well as international movies of the 1960s era, such as “A Difficult Life” (1961), “Mafioso” (1962), “The Violent Four” (1968) as well as “Danger: Diabolik” (1968), “Barbagia (La società del malessere)” (1968) and “A Brief Season” (1969). All these ventures helped Dino De Laurentiis to add a significant sum to his net worth.
In 1976, he relocated to the US where he founded his own studio named De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Through the rest of the 1970s and the 1980s, Dino collaborated with big names of the movie-making industry and produced some of the cult classic movies such as, apart from those above, “King Kong” (1976), “The Serpent’s Egg” (1977), “The Bounty” (1984) as well as “Conan the Destroyer” (1984) and “Blue Velvet” (1986). It is certain that all these accomplishments made a positive impact on Dino De Laurentiis’ wealth.
He also produced several movies about the infamous fictional serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter. including “Hannibal” (2001), “Red Dragon” (2002) and “Hannibal Rising” (2007). Two of the last movies De Laurentiis worked on were “The Last Legion” and “Virgin Territory”, both released in 2007. In his professional career, which spawned for nearly 70 years, Dino produced 174 motion pictures. Apart from those already mentioned above, Dino founded several other movie studios, in all corners of the world such as the Dinocitta in Rome, Italy, CLA De Laurentiis in Morocco and Roadshow Studios in Australia, which together produced over 600 movies. Doubtlessly, all these achievements dramatically increased his net worth.
Apart from moviemaking, Dino also put some efforts into the food business – during the 1980s he was the owner of DDL Showfood, a chain of markets with Italian specialty foods and goods located in Los Angeles and New York City.
When it comes to his personal life, Dino was married twice. From his first marriage with Italian actress Silvana Mangano, which lasted between 1949 and 1988, he has four children. From 1990 ’til his death in 2010, he was married to Martha who was also a producer, and with whom he has two children. Dino passed away at the age of 91, on the 10th November 2010 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, David di Donatello for Best Producer, David di Donatello for Best Film, David di Donatello Golden Plate Award, PGA David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures,...
Nominations
Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, David di Donatello for Best Foreign Producer
Movies
La Strada, Barbarella, King Kong, Nights of Cabiria, Bitter Rice, Flash Gordon, Death Wish, Red Dragon, Hannibal, Hannibal Rising, Body of Evidence, The Bible: In the Beginning..., War and Peace, The Last Legion, U-571, Mandingo, The Serpent's Egg, Ragtime, Year of the Dragon, Virgin Territory, Brea...
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Quote
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No one cry when Jaws die but when the monkey die, people gonna cry. Intellectuals gonna love Kong. Even film buffs who love the first Kong gonna love ours. Why? Because I no give them crap.
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[to Arnold Schwarzenegger after the massive hit of Conan the Barbarian] I make you a star.
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Fact
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In the middle of her audition for King Kong (1976), he turned to his son and described Meryl Streep as "Troppo brutta per King Kong" ("Too ugly for King Kong), assuming she couldn't understand him if he spoke in Italian. She then replied in perfect Italian that she was very sorry to have disappointed him, and left him stunned.
Changed the name of the big screen adaptation of Thomas Harris's "Red Dragon" novel to Manhunter (1986). This was due to the fact that he had a flop with Long de xin (1985) ("The Year of the Dragon") previously and didn't want to tempt fate by having another movie with the word "dragon" in it.
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Referred to by critics Harry Medved and Michael Medved as "Dino Di Horrendous" in their 1980 book "The Golden Turkey Awards", after having produced a succession of costly failures during the previous decade (e.g., the remake King Kong (1976)).