Sky Italia celebrated its 20-year anniversary on Tuesday by announcing a rich slate of upcoming originals, including a second season of the Italian adaptation of “Call My Agent,” which will see “The White Lotus” star Sabrina Impacciatore joining the cast.
The Sky Italia originals slate comprises previously announced high-end drama “M. Son of the Century” by British director Joe Wright, alongside less lavish shows in various stages – most of which have international potential. It underscores how the Italian unit of the Comcast-owned pay-TV service continues to be a major Italian industry driver.
While Sky’s German unit, which is believed to be up for sale, has put production on pause, Sky Italia is cranking out Italian originals through the platform’s Sky Studios unit at a steady pace, showing no signs of a slowdown.
“We are at the level of eight Sky originals a year, which I think puts us among Italy’s top scripted content producers in terms of volume,” Nils Hartmann, EVP Sky Studios Italy and Germany, told Variety. He declined to comment on Sky Germany.
Hartmann added that “more than volume, what counts is the continuous growth of our ambition,” noting that “M,” which will air in 2024, takes Sky Italia originals to the next level, both “in terms of creative vision and in terms of production [budget] expenditure,” which he declined to reveal.
Hartmann also praised Italy’s version of “Call My Agent,” the first season of which featured Paolo Sorrentino among its stars and aired successfully on Sky in January, noting that “it would have been really easy to get it wrong.”
He also announced that former BBC Studios director of commissioning and co-production Tobi de Graaff has been appointed as SVP commercial of Sky Studios. “With him on board we will be bolstering our European distribution side,” Hartmann said, noting that NBCUniversal, which has been handling global distribution of some Sky Italia content, is U.S.-based.
See other upcoming Sky Italia originals below.
– “La Mala” (working title): This series on the Milanese mob in the ’70s is a spinoff of Sky docuseries “La Mala. Banditi a Milano.” It intends to further Sky’s trend of Italian criminal sagas that kicked off with “Romanzo Criminale” (“Crime Novel”) and segued most notably with “Gomorrah,” the milestone show that is Italy’s top TV export. Stefano Sardo, whose credits include the Italian version of “In Treatment” and also Sky’s “1992,” “1993” and “1994,” is the head writer.
– “Piedone”: A series that mines a 1970s Italian IP titled “Piedone lo Sbirro,” which is a franchise of hit films starring Bud Spencer as a police inspector nicknamed “Bigfoot.” These movies have cult status in Germany. “Gomorrah” star Salvatore Esposito will star as the show’s lead. The series is being penned by (“The Young Pope”).
– “The Art of Joy”: Italian actor and director Valeria Golino (“The Morning Show”) is making her debut as a TV series director with this erotic female empowerment drama. Set in the early 20th-century, the show follows a Sicilian young woman named Modesta, who is born into an impoverished family and driven by a strong belief that she’s destined for a better life.
– “Unwanted”: An immigration-themed drama directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (“Downfall”), “Unwanted” is about a tourist-packed cruise ship that rescues a group of refugees from the sea. They take the ship hostage rather than risk being taken back to Libya, where they have just come from.
