HBO, RAI Order Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend to Series

NEW YORK/ROME: Elena Ferrante’s book My Brilliant Friend is being made into a drama series for HBO and RAI.

Set in Naples, My Brilliant Friend centers on a woman writing about her experiences with her best friend, who seemingly disappeared without a trace. The eight-episode show will be produced by Lorenzo Mieli and Mario Gianani for Wildside, and Domenico Procacci for Fandango. It will be filmed in Italian, with Saverio Costanzo directing all eight episodes. FremantleMedia International is on board as distributor.

Casey Bloys, the president of HBO Programming, commented: “We are thrilled to partner with Wildside, RAI and Fandango to bring the powerful, epic storytelling of Elena Ferrante and her Neapolitan Novels to life. Through her characters, Elena and Lila, we will witness a lifelong friendship set against the seductive social web of Naples, Italy. An exploration of the complicated intensity of female friendship, these ambitious stories will no doubt resonate with the HBO audience.”

Antonio Campo Dall’Orto, the director general of RAI, stated: “With My Brilliant Friend, RAI brings to TV screens the extraordinary publishing success by Elena Ferrante. This is an ambitious project that satisfies many of the public service’s objectives in the field of TV drama. It is Italian and international; it is universal but complex; it is a huge co-production with a global value. Thanks to a first-time cooperation with HBO, a cutting-edge broadcaster in the field of TV series, and producers now established at the international level like Wildside and Fandango, the Italian TV drama takes another step forward in exporting Italian products around the world. A strategy that looks at quality and the market, playing the cards of Italian creativity and talent and of the high level of expertise reached in the creation and production of TV series.”

Mieli, the CEO of Wildside, noted: “Producing a series based on the incredible work of Elena Ferrante is an exciting challenge. Through the eyes and lives of two extraordinary friends, her quadrilogy describes 50 years of Italian history, touching on universal themes and feelings. We and Fandango are particularly proud of having brought together two partners like HBO and RAI for a series with a strong Italian identity, but aimed at a global audience. A project that can mark a further great step forward for original Italian productions and a confirmation of Wildside’s international business.”

Procacci, the sole administrator of Fandango, added: “This is also a good story in terms of production. We’re working very well with Wildside and RAI, a company that is changing, and that now can, editorially speaking, be more daring than before. Having HBO in the production structure now is exciting. They’ve done some of the best series ever, and their presence is a guarantee, for everyone, of absolute attention to quality. This attention is confirmed with the choice of a director like Saverio Costanzo. The objective we all have is to produce high quality for as broad a public as possible—exactly what Elena Ferrante did with her novels.”