Spain welcomes Italian mobsters

Spanish network Atresmedia will air a mobster drama from Sky Italia after picking up rights to the show from German-based producer and distributor Beta Films.

Gomorrah (12×52′) is based on the bestselling book by Italian writer Roberto Saviano and tells the inside story of the Camorra, the fierce Neapolitan crime organisation.

The series, a coproduction between Sky Cinema, Cattleya, Fandango, La 7 and Beta Film, has already been sold to broadcasters in 60 territories, including Sky Germany, HBO Nordic in Scandinavia and HBO Latin America.

The show is also being remade in the US by The Weinstein Company, which is currently mulling a plan to split its TV business, while Arrow Film in the UK and Lumiere in the Netherlands have also acquired the show.

Gomorra’s success has prompted Sky Italia’s owner 21st Century Fox to invest more in Italian drama and led to a meeting between the firm’s co-chief operating office James Murdoch and the country’s prime minister last week.