Starz remakes Sky Italia drama

US cablenet Starz is developing a local version of popular Sky Italia crime drama Romanzo Criminale.

The series will be written by Spartacus creator Steven S DeKnight, who is serving as exec producer and showrunner as part of his overall deal with Starz.

The original Italian production, which aired on Sky Cinema in 2008, was based on Giancarlo De Cataldo’s 2002 novel. The story revolved around a gang that controls Rome’s heroin trade in the 1970s and 1980s.

The US version will be set in Philadelphia during the turbulent era of the late 1960s and early 1970s and will follow the rise of a gang of working class criminals who attempt to seize the American Dream by any means necessary.

In related news, Starz has made its TV everywhere service Starz Play available on the previous-generation Xbox 360 video games console.

The deal marks the first time Starz Play has been made available on a game console. Starz is also developing apps for the Xbox for its Encore Play and Movieplex Play services, which are expected to launch in the first half of 2014.