Sky has ordered an eight-part drama chronicling the rise and fall of Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini from My Brilliant Friend indie The Apartment.
M. Son Of The Century is based on Antonio Scurati’s bestselling novel of the same name and will cover the establishment of Fasci Italiani in 1919 through to Mussolini’s parliamentary speech, following the murder of socialist MP Giacomo Matteotti in 1925.
The Italian-language series will also delve into Mussolini’s personal relationships, including with his wife Rachel, his mistress Margherita Sarfatti and other iconic figures of the time.
It will document the rise of fascism in Italy with historical accuracy, with every event, character, dialogue and speech documented or witnessed by multiple sources.
The Sky Studios series will be produced by Fremantle-backed The Apartment Picture (The New Pope), in collaboration with Pathé. It is written by Stefano Bises (Gomorrah – The Series, The New Pope) in collaboration with Davide Serino (1992, 1993, Il Re) and is set to film next year.
It will air in all of Sky’s European markets, with Fremantle will handle international sales.
“With the partnership and creativity of The Apartment team we are diving right into the thrilling material of this story, to bring Sky customers a truly unique original series on the rise and fall of a man and the historical legacy that our country, and the world, have yet to come to terms with,” said Nils Hartmann, executive vice president of Sky Studios, Deutschland and Italia.
The Apartment’s Lorenzo Mieli added that the timing of the series rings with current events as new forms of populism, sovereignty and authoritarianism have risen in popularity in recent years.
“Traces of the man who made the March on Rome a hundred years ago can be found in many figures of the times in which we live. Even more so now that Europe has once again become a theatre of war. “M” recounts the perverse mechanisms of empathy and violence, of manipulation and modernity that swept Italy a century ago,” he said.
This story first appeared on Screen’s sister site Broadcast
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