Patrick Dempsey to Co-Star in Sky Italia Original Devils

Sky Italia and Lux Vide are working together on the original series Devils, starring Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy) and Alessandro Borghi (Suburra).

Devils will be set in the London office of a big U.S. bank, where the ruthless head of trading from Italy, Massimo Ruggero (Borghi), has been introduced to the world of finance by Dominic Morgan (Dempsey), CEO of the bank. When he ends up involved in an intercontinental financial war rocking Europe, he will have to choose whether to ally himself with his mentor or fight him.

The ten-part series is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Guido Maria Brera. It will be co-funded and internationally distributed by Sky Vision, in association with Orange Studio.

The project will be directed by Nick Hurran (Sherlock, Doctor Who, Fortitude), who will also serve as showrunner. Alongside him behind the camera is Jan Michelini (I Medici). The script writing team includes Alessandro Sermoneta, Mario Ruggeri, Elena Bucaccio, Guido Maria Brera, Chris Lunt, Michael Walker, Ben Harris, Daniele Cesarano, Ezio Abate and Barbara Petronio.

Nils Hartmann, head of Sky Italia original productions, said: “When, more than 10 years ago, Sky started with its first original productions, we set ourselves a mission to enter unchartered territory and keep innovating. As we announce this new project, we are well aware and thrilled about the fact that we are still headed in that direction. And that we are doing so taking on board an international cast of directors, led by Nick Hurran, and truly outstanding acting talents featuring, among others, Patrick Dempsey, a name that has made the history of drama series in the U.S., here starring in a new surprising role, and Alessandro Borghi, one of the most talented and well-rounded Italian actors we are very proud to have with us. An ambitious project—based on the gripping novel by another Italian talent, Guido Maria Brera—which marks Sky’s debut into a genre, the financial thriller, that has been little explored in Italy, and inaugurates the collaboration with Lux Vide, a brand of great Italian and international successes we are proud to undertake this journey with.”

Luca Bernabei, CEO of Lux Vide, commented: “Once finance had to do with some rich people who had the capital to ‘play’ on the stock exchange; now finance takes hold of the lives of all of us and changes them profoundly, making most of us poorer and a few privileged ones much richer. That’s exactly what struck me in the excellent novel by Guido Maria Brera Devils that tells the secrets of the new masters of the world: the lords of finance. Lux is proud to be part of this project—co-produced with Sky Italia and to be distributed worldwide by Sky Vision—a new enthralling series that will tell the stories of men and women who work in the financial markets no longer to earn money but to become the masters of the world. That is the extraordinary aspect of the story that deeply struck Sky Italia, up to the point of pushing the original productions team led by Nils Hartmann with the support of Sonia Rovai to join forces with the Lux team led by Sara Melodia and develop really unconventional and ground-breaking screenplays. The beauty of the scripts attracted first a great director of the likes of Nick Hurran, assisted by Jan Michelini, and then got on board great actors like Patrick Dempsey and Alessandro Borghi. Devils will be the first series ever to reveal the secrets of the new masters of the world with compelling stories because they are still men even if they act like gods.”

Moreyba Bidessie, scripted acquisitions manager of Sky Vision, added: “This is the first Sky Italia original, that Sky Vision will co-fund and distribute internationally—and is testimony to continuing the drive to create world-class, premium television that Sky Vision is proud to be a part of. Devils is a brilliantly heady mix of thriller and conspiracy—and how the seduction of power corrupts even the strongest of bonds.”