Gomorrah being developed into 12-part TV series

Writer Roberto Saviano’s Gomorrah, the harrowing book about the Neapolitan mafia known as Camorra upon which Matteo Garrone’s 2008 Cannes Grand Prix-winning film is based, is now set to become a TV series co produced by Italy’s Fandango and Cattleya production companies with Sky Cinema.

Saviano will write and over see the scripting of the 12-episode project, which is currently in development phase. The project will boast a complex script showing the criminal world of the Camorra - focusing on Naples and nearby areas that Saviano grew up in including Casal di Principe, San Cipriano d’Aversa, Mondragone and Giugliano.

Domenico Procacci, who owns the film rights through his Fandango Film, and Rome-based Cattleya decided to undergo the project together, a Cattleya rep told Screen.

In part, this is because Cattleya has just launched the second season of a successful TV series spin off of Romanzo Criminale, Cattleya’s 2005 hit film.

Saviano’s book, and Garrone’s film both shed light on the inner workings and violent life of the Camorra mafia in Naples. As a result, the Italian state has assigned Saviano 24/7 police protection after he received death threats.

The announcement about the upcoming TV series comes just as Antonio Iovine, one of the most powerful members of the Camorra, was arrested.

At the same time, the southern town of Naples, and Sicily’s capitol Palermo, are struggling with the same trash crisis exposed in Saviano’s book. Naples is currently covered by between 8-9,000 tonnes of trash in the city centre.

In another recent event, Saviano and Fabio Fazio co-hosted the RAI Tre programme entitled ‘Vieni Via Con Me.’ (Come Away With Me). The programme was viewed by 9m Italians and claimed 30% of the television viewing market, unprecedented shares for RAI Tre, the smallest of the broadcaster’s three channels, which transmitted the programme.

The Cattleya rep said it is too early to say whether the TV series will involve Garrone as director but producers also say the script is expected to be a very complicated picture of the mafia crime world.

Riccardo Tozzi of Cattleya told ANSA, the Italian news agency that Saviano’s is “welcome in every phase of the project.” While Procacci said the programme will give time to develop story lines that had to be abandoned during the development of Garrone’s film.