Netflix has announced three new Italian originals indicating the streaming giant is ramping up operations in the country just as it gets more traction with local subscribers.
The new Italian Netflix originals in the pipeline are: a genre show with supernatural elements titled “Curon” which is set in a Northern Italian village; a series adaptation of hit teen romance movie “Three Steps Over Heaven”; and an adaptation of a bestselling Italian novel titled “Fedeltà,” which translates as “Faithfulness,” and is about a Milanese couple in their 30’s.
“Curon,” in which “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 promotional materials, sees Ezio Abbate serving as head-writer. Abbate was a writer on crimer “Suburra,” which was Netflix’s first Italian original. “Curon” will be produced by Indiana Productions and marks the first Netflix deal for the Milan-based shingle that has been expanding into TV.
“Three Steps Over Heaven” is a film franchise that originated as a hit in Italy and was then adapted to stellar results in Spain. The series will be produced by ITV-owned Cattleya, the prominent Italian shingle that produced “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 “Sally and Ale together from their different worlds,” a Netflix statement said.
For the moment Netflix has just acquired the adaptation rights to “Fedeltà,” which is shortlisted for Italy’s top literary prize, the Premio Strega. No Italian producer is on board this show yet.
Besides these three new original series, Netflix recently announced an Italian original film titled “Lo Spietato,” directed by Renato De Maria and toplining local A-lister Riccardo Scamarcio as a Milanese gangster. Produced by BIBI Film and RAI Cinema, the pic will be released briefly in Italian cinemas April 8-10 and then drop globally on Netflix on April 19.
Netflix also has 3 Italian stand-up comedy originals in the works. And they are also in production on the second season of “Baby,” which takes its cue from a real-life Rome teen prostitution ring, and had been a success.
Though the exact figure of Netflix’s Italian client base is not known, subscribers to streaming platforms in Italy have doubled over the past year, reaching roughly 5 million, the bulk of which are said to be Netflix subs, according to a recent study by EY’s Quantitative Economics and Statistics group quoted in Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore
Other previously announced Italian Netflix originals in the pipeline are the first season of “Luna Nera,” a new original series based on an unpublished manuscript about women accused of witchcraft in 17th-century Italy, to be produced by Domenico Procacci’s Fandango, and an adaptation of Italian animated franchise the “Winx Club” into a live action TV series.