The legendary Italian film mecca Cinecittà Studios erupted into flames on Monday, destroying a set that resembled Florence during the Renaissance era.
The blaze — which resulted in no reported injuries and left the studio relatively unscathed — was later extinguished by three teams of firefighters.
Italian authorities are still investigating the nature of the inferno — though it is believed that the blaze began due to natural causes amid Europe’s unprecedented heat wave — reports Variety.
“The fire has been extinguished. There are no injuries, no poisoning, no serious material damage,” said Cinecittà Studios spokesperson Marlon Pellegrini in a statement.
Cinecittà — which is undergoing a $321 million renovation — opened in 1937 to produce propaganda for Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime, but later became the backdrop for several epic Hollywood blockbusters including 11-time Academy Award winner “Ben-Hur” and Martin Scorsese’s Best Picture-nominated “Gangs of New York.”
In 2007, the studio experienced a devastating fire that engulfed sets from the HBO series “Rome” and 32,000 square feet of studio space. Parts of a studio used to film Federico Fellini’s cinematic tour de force “La Dolce Vita” were consumed in a second blaze in 2012.
The most recent fire has delayed the production of Netflix’s “The Old Guard 2,” starring Charlize Theron.
Natalia Barbosa, production coordinator for the film, said that high winds helped spread the flames — and that the cast and crew had evacuated the set as a precaution.
Barbosa lamented that the catastrophic incident hindered the movie’s production schedule.
“We’ve lost two days of filming,” she said in a statement.
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