Joe Wright set to direct brand new Sky Original drama M. Son of the Century with Luca Marinelli

To lead the cast as Benito Mussolini

The Sky Original series chronicles Mussolini’s rise to power and is based on the Premio Strega-winning and international bestselling book by Antonio Scurati

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Sky today announces that BAFTA-winning director Joe Wright (Darkest Hour, Atonement, Cyrano) is set to direct M. Son of the Century, the new Sky Original series based on the Premio Strega-winning and international bestselling book by Antonio Scurati, which chronicles the birth of fascism in Italy and the Duce Benito Mussolini’s rise to power.

Wright will direct all eight episodes of the series and begins filming at Cinecittà Studios over the next few weeks.

Also announced today at the Rome Film Festival, Luca Marinelli will lead the cast as Benito Mussolini. Nominated five times for the David di Donatello awards - including the nomination that won him the award for They Call Me Jeeg, a film that also saw him win the Nastro d’Argento Award - Marinelli is one of the most respected actors in Italy. He is also the winner of the Coppa Volpi for best actor at the Venice Film Festival for Martin Eden and the prestigious Shooting Stars Award at the Berlin Festival.

M. Son of the Century is produced by Sky Studios and Lorenzo Mieli for The Apartment Pictures, a Fremantle company, in collaboration with Pathé.

The eight-part series will cover the period from the founding of Fasci Italiani in 1919 through to Mussolini’s infamous speech in parliament following the murder of socialist MP Giacomo Matteotti in 1925. The series will also provide viewers with an insight into Mussolini and his personal relationships, including with his wife Rachele, his lover Margherita Sarfatti, and with other iconic figures from the time. Like the novel, the series will tell the history of a country that surrendered to dictatorship and the story of a man who was able to rise from his ashes time and again.

Written by Stefano Bises (Gomorrah, The New Pope, ZeroZeroZero, Speravo de morì prima) and Davide Serino (1992, 1993, Il Re, Esterno Notte), the series will tell the events with historical accuracy, with every event, character, dialogue and speech documented or witnessed by multiple sources.

Nils Hartmann, EVP Sky Studios Italia and Deutschland, said: ‘’For a great project like 'M.', and for such a challenging role as Mussolini, we could only think of an extraordinary and eclectic talent like Luca Marinelli. There are not many actors like him in Italy or in the world, and we have been courting him for a long time and are now delighted to have him in this new Sky Studios production, which is becoming more and more unique. With the direction of a master like Joe Wright and with the guidance of Scurati's novel, adapted here by Stefano Bises and Davide Serino, we are ready to launch a project that marks a further step forward in our creative and productive journey’’

Lorenzo Mieli, CEO for The Apartment Pictures, a Fremantle Company, said: “I am hugely happy about the artistic team we have in M: Joe Wright is perfect because I love the way he’s dealt with the complexity of the human soul and the ethical dilemmas of power in the past and also I love the way he can change genres. Luca Marinelli is definitely one of the greatest actors of his generation and only a great actor like him can play a character as complex as that of Mussolini”.

M. Son of the Century will be shown exclusively on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW in all of Sky’s markets in Europe. Fremantle handle international distribution of the series.

Published in Italy by Bompiani in 2018, the Antonio Scurati novel M. Son of the Century has been translated in 46 countries and has sold more than 600,000 copies. It was published by Harper Collins in the United States. It is the first book in a trilogy that Scurati dedicated to fascism and Benito Mussolini: the second book was entitled M. L'UOMO DELLA PROVVIDENZA, which was followed a few weeks ago by the third novel in the bestselling series, M. GLI ULTIMI GIORNI DELL’EUROPA, focused on the crucial period between 1938 and 1940.

About

JOE WRIGHT BIOGRAPHY

Joe Wright – Film Director - studied at St Martin's College, London. With a total of seven feature films released to date, for his directorial work has received 35 BAFTA, 24 Academy Awards, 12 Golden Globe nominations and wins.

Wright’s feature film directorial debut was PRIDE & PREJUDICE in 2005, starring Keira Knightley, Matthew MacFadyen, Rosamund Pike and Donald Sutherland. This won him a BAFTA Award for Best Director.

ATONEMENT, based on Ian McEwan’s novel, was released in 2007. Written by Christopher Hampton, it starred Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. It won an Oscar for the best original music score.

2009 saw the release of THE SOLOIST, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx, which was followed by HANNA in May 2011, starring Cate Blanchett and Saoirse Ronan.

ANNA KARENINA was released in September 2012, starring Keira Knightley, Jude Law and Aaron Taylor-Johnson which took home a BAFTA and an Oscar for best costume design. Soon afterwards, Joe made his debut in the theatre world with TRELAWNY OF THE WELLS at the Donmar Theatre, followed by A SEASON IN THE CONGO at the Young Vic starring Chiwetel Ejiofor.

In 2015 Joe collaborated with Warner Brothers on PAN. A love letter to the writings of JM Barrie, this follows a young Peter as he journeys to Neverland and stars Hugh Jackman.

DARKEST HOUR was released in 2017 and starred Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James and Gary Oldman. Oldman won an Oscar for his performance as Sir Winston Churchill.

In May 2021 WOMAN IN THE WINDOW was released on Netflix. The cast includes Amy Adams, Julianne Moore and Gary Oldman.

Wright’s latest movie is CYRANO, a musical based on the play ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ by Edmond Rostand and stars Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Ben Mendelsohn.

LUCA MARINELLI BIOGRAPHY

Born in 1984, Luca Marinelli graduated from the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Arts where he performed in A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Carlo Cecchi.

His talented performance was noted by director Saverio Costanzo, who chose him to co-star in his film The Solitude of Prime Numbers, based on the novel by Paolo Giordano. The film was presented, in competition, at the 67th Venice International Film Festival.

In 2011, he played the role of Roberta in the sci-fì film The Last Man on Earth directed by GIPI which again was presented, in competition, at the Venice International Film Festival.

Also, that year he worked on films including Waves directed by Corrado Maria Sassi, Nina directed by Elisa Fuksas as well as the internationally acclaimed film for television, Mary of Nazareth, directed by Giacomo Campiotti.

In 2012, he was part of the cast of Paolo Virzi’s Every Blessed Day where he was nominated for best leading actor at the David di Donatello Awards.

He followed up by taking part in the Oscar-winning film The Great Beauty directed by Paolo Sorrentino.

In 2013, at the Berlin Film Festival, he received the Shooting Star Award from the European Film Promotion, an award given to the ten best talents in European cinema.

That same year, he co-starred in Alessandro Lunardelli's debut feature film Up to the World, presented at the Rome Film Festival.

In 2014, his interpretation in the film They Call Me Jeeg directed by Gabriele Mainetti, earned him important awards and accolades including the Ciak d'Oro, the Nastro d'Argento and the David di Donatello as best supporting actor.

His television career continued in 2014 with A Dangerous Fortune, a film for the German market directed by Christian Schwochow.

In 2015, he co-starred in Claudio Caligari's film Don’t Be Bad, which was presented out of competition at the 72nd Venice Film Festival and earned him his second David di Donatello nomination.

That same year, he took part in the films Slam directed by Andrea Molaioli, and Lasciati Andare, directed by Francesco Amato, for which he won the Ciak d'Oro as best supporting actor.

In 2016, he co-starred in Fabio Mollo's film There is a Light, which earned him nominations for the Globo d'Oro and the Nastri d’Argento; he followed with a film directed by the Taviani brothers, A Private Matter, based on Beppe Fenoglio's novel of the same name, which earned him the Globo d'Oro prize for best actor. In the same year, he co-starred in the film Ricordi, directed by Valerio Mieli presented at Venice Days and played Fabrizio de Andrè in the mini-series Fabrizio De Andrè - Principe libero, which earned him another David di Donatello nomination.

In 2017, he took part in the TV series Trust, directed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle, and two years later (2019) acted alongside Charlize Theron in the action movie The Old Guard, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. The same year, he was the voice of the audiobook Lament of Portnoy by Philip Roth for Emons audiobooks.

In 2018, he starred in the film Martin Eden, based on Jack London's novel and directed by Pietro Marcello. The film was presented at the 76th Venice Film Festival, where he received the prestigious Volpi Cup for best male performance and he was nominated for an EFA as best leading actor.

In 2019, he starred in the film Diabolik based on the Italian comic book series and directed by Manetti Bros.

In 2020, he was part of the international jury chaired by Jeremy Irons during the 70th Berlinale.

In 2021, he co-starred in the film The Eight Mountains directed by Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch, based on Paolo Cognetti's novel of the same name, which won the Premio Strega in 2018 and was presented in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.

Source SKY