Italian soccer icon Francesco Totti will be the subject of a six-part Sky Original series with the working title “Speravo De Mori’ Prima – The Series About Francesco Totti.”
Produced by Mario Gianani for Wildside, part of the Fremantle group, with Virginia Valsecchi’s Capri Entertainment, The New Life Company and Kwaï, the series is based on the book “Un Capitano” by Totti and Paolo Condò, published by Rizzoli Libri S.p.A.
Principal photography is set to commence in Rome shortly.
The series will focus on the last two years of the legendary Roma player’s career and the story of his final years with the famous “giallorossi” shirt.
The series will star Pietro Castellitto (“Don’t Move”) as Totti, and will also feature Greta Scarano (“Suburra: Blood on Rome”) as Totti’s wife Ilary Blasi, Monica Guerritore (“A Perfect Day”) as his mother, and Gianmarco Tognazzi (“There Is No Place Like Home”) as Luciano Spalletti, the last manager of Totti’s professional club career.
The series will be directed by Luca Ribuoli (“The Mafia Kills Only in Summer”) and is written by Stefano Bises, Michele Astori and Maurizio Careddu. Fremantle will distribute internationally.
Nicola Maccanico, Sky Italia executive VP of programming, said: “With this project, in conjunction with Wildside, we want to produce something deep-rooted in Sky’s DNA: to offer an alternative point of view. Thanks to a remarkably talented cast and a script effective in keeping together the irony of the man and the epicness of the athlete, the series will allow us to see the human side of Francesco Totti: as important, engaging and phenomenal as the artist of football everyone had the chance to admire”.
Mario Gianani, CEO of Wildside, added: “Narrating the lives of figures that made sports history in the TV series format is a type of challenge that is becoming increasingly widespread. It’s a type of narrative that touches audiences emotionally, beyond the account of athletic achievements.”