Sky, Young Pope producer adapt novel

Niccolò Ammaniti on the Anna set

UK-based satcaster Sky has commissioned Fremantle-owned The Young Pope producer Wildside to adapt a novel by Italian author Niccolò Ammaniti as a drama series.

Based on the book of the same name, Anna will be directed by Ammaniti himself. This is Ammaniti’s second TV project with Sky and Fremantle’s Wildside after The Miracle, which he also directed based on his own book, became a hit last year.

Anna is a Sky original series produced by Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli for Wildside, in collaboration with cultural broadcaster Arte France and Fremantle-owned French prodco Kwaï. It will be a Sky exclusive in Italy, with Fremantle handling global distribution.

The plot unfolds in a world where an evolution in human DNA means people do not live past the age of puberty and the world is now run by children. Protagonist Anna tries to find her way in this new world based on advice her mother left her in a book, but she quickly finds the old rules no longer apply.

“Anna is a series that deals with a deeply contemporary theme: it is a story about children on the verge of puberty forced to live alone in what is left of a world devastated by adults, and in which they must find hope for a rebirth,” said Gianani.