Warner Bros Discovery unveils raft of Italian shows amid expansion of streamer
HBO Max’s local production in Europe is expanding with a raft of upcoming Italian shows in the works, including two medical dramas from the ITV Studios-backed producer behind Gomorrah and ZeroZeroZero.
The Warner Bros Discovery-owned streamer had pulled back on originals from Europe over recent years but the launch of HBO Max in Italy and Germany has seen a flurry of shows greenlit.
New programmes in the works for HBO Max in Italy include 500 Battiti (aka 500 Heartbeats), which is set in the transplant unit of the country’s public healthcare system and tracks the recipient of a heart transplant as their life intertwines with the doctors, patients and families around them. It is being written by Peppe Fiore, Bernardo Pellegrini, Virginia Virilli, with development underway.
Cattleya is also behind In Utero, which unfolds within a fertility clinic and follows the stories of doctors as they attempt to help patients have children.
The series is produced in association with Paramount Television International Studio and has been created by Margaret Mazzantini, who is also head writer alongside Enrico Audenino.
Maria Sole Tognazzi directs, with Sergio Castellitto, Alessio Fiorenza, Maria Pia Calzone, and Thony starring.
The two shows were unveiled as Warner Bros Discovery rolled out HBO Max in Italy today (Tuesday), with the series joining Portobello - its first Italian original production scripted series - and docudrama Melania Rea: Beyond The Case.
Portobello, which is from Mediawan’s Our Films and Kavac Film, is being co-produced with ARTE France and in collaboration with Rai Fiction and Fremantle’s The Apartment Pictures. The Melania Rea series is from Stand by Me.
Other local shows in the works include mockumentary Peccato, which begins filming on Wednesday. The series stars Emanuela Fanelli and uses real footage and fictional reconstructions to imagine a spectacular downfall.
It is produced by Be Water Film in association with HBO Max and in collaboration with Rai Cinema.
Factual originals include Indigo Stories-produced docuseries Gina Lollobrigida: Diva Contesa, which explores the legacy of the cinematic icon, and Tzantza (working title), which explores the practice of shrinking human heads.
Banijay-owned Groenlandia produces the doc which retraces what happened to a pair of Italians who were murdered in Ecuador.
They join the previously confirmed Saman: The Hidden Truth from Aurora TV, which explores how a young Pakistani woman was killed by her own family for rejecting an arranged marriage.
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