Rai, Spotnitz, Hoffman meet Medicis

Italian pubcaster Rai has ordered an eight-part drama starring Richard Madden and Dustin Hoffman from European producer Lux Vide and Frank Spotnitz’s Big Light Productions.

Frank Spotnitz

Medici: Masters of Florence will chronicle the rise of the Medici family, with Game of Thrones star Madden playing enterprising son Cosimo de’ Medici and Hoffman portraying family patriarch Giovanni de’ Medici.

The series follows the story of the family’s ascent from simple merchants to power brokers who sparked an economic and cultural revolution, creating a long list of powerful enemies in the process.

The show has been created by Spotnitz and Nicholas Meyer (The Seven-Per-Cent Solution), with Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (The Pillars of the Earth) directing. Germany’s Wild Bunch TV is a co-financier and will oversee international sales, starting at Mipcom next month.

Spotnitz called the tale of the Medicis a “powerful story that resonates even now,” while RAI Fiction director Tinny Andreatta added that the series “has great international appeal and we hope it will open up a new era of creative coproductions.”