Oscar-winner Sorrentino to write and direct TV series
'The Young Pope' - about an imaginary Italian-American pontiff
08 April, 14:58
(ANSA) - Rome, April 8 - Italian director Paolo Sorrentino,
winner of this year's foreign-language Oscar for The Great
Beauty, will write and direct his first TV series, about an
imaginary pontiff who becomes the first Italian-American pope in
history.Working-titled The Young Pope, the eight-episode series in 50-minute format aimed at the international market will be co-produced by Lorenzo Mieli and Mario Gianani's Wildside and Rupert Murdoch's Sky Italia pay TV, which will air the show in Italy.
US producer John Lyons, the former president of production at Focus Features, is executive producing.
The series is written by Sorrentino along with his Great Beauty writing partner Umberto Contarello and veteran Italian film and TV screenwriter Stefano Rulli.
The story to be played by an international cast will be set in contemporary Africa, Italy, the Vatican, and the US.
