Netflix announces three more Italian original series for this year
Rome: If you’re a fan of Italian Netflix hits like Suburra, or are simply looking for a fun way to improve your Italian, we’ve got some good news: the streaming giant has announced three more Italian original series for this year.
Netflix has announced three new shows in the pipeline as it ramps up its operations in Italy. Though they sound much less gritty than current hit series like Suburra or Baby, they each promise something different.
Curon
This is a “genre show with supernatural elements”, set in a northern Italian village. A mother and her teen kids return to her mysterious hometown village in Northern Italy only to discover what lies below the surface of her past,” according to Netflix.
Head writer Ezio Abbate was also a writer on Suburra, Netflix’s first Italian original. Curon will be produced by Indiana Productions and marks the first Netflix deal for the Milan-based company, which has been expanding into TV.
Three Steps Over Heaven
A series adaptation of a teen romance movie, Three Steps Over Heaven has previously been adapted in Spain, where the series was a hit. The Italian series will be produced by ITV-owned Cattleya, the prominent Italian production company behind Suburra.
In this series, which will transpose the Italian film’s setting from Rome to a backdrop of motorbike racing on the Adriatic coast, “an undeniable attraction” will bring together two characters, Sally and Ale, “from their different worlds,” Netflix said.
Fedeltà
This story of a Milanese couple in their 30s is an adaptation of a bestselling Italian novel f the same name, which translates as “fidelity.” Netflix has just acquired the adaptation rights to the book, which is shortlisted for Italy’s top literary prize, the Premio Strega.
Lo Spietato, directed by Renato De Maria, stars local A-lister Riccardo Scamarcio as a Milanese gangster. Produced by BIBI Film and RAI Cinema, the film will be released briefly in Italian cinemas April 8-10, due to a new Italian law, and then drop globally on Netflix on April 19.
And the second season of Baby, which takes its cue from a real-life Rome teen prostitution ring, is also in production.
Plus, though they may be more difficult for non-Italian viewers to follow, there are also three Italian standup comedy originals in the works.
Other previously announced Italian Netflix originals in the works include Luna Nera (Black Moon), a new original series based on an unpublished manuscript about women accused of witchcraft in 17th-century Italy.
“Italy is a cradle of great storytellers and amazing talent, and our aim is to find those unique and very local voices that could resonate with TV lovers everywhere,” said Kelly Luegenbiehl, Vice President of International Original Series for Europe and Africa.
“This new crop of projects are all very different and will all be shot across Italy.”
Netflix launched in Italy in 2015. No official audience figures have been released, but local media estimates the service had some 1.4 million subscribers in Italy last year, and that number is expected to reach two million by the end of 2019.
