Elena Ferrante’s ‘Neapolitan Novels’ Being Made Into TV Series
By Alice Thorpe | Women and Hollywoodfebbraio 10, 2016 at 11:00AM
Good news for the many admirers of Italian author Elena Ferrante’s so-called ‘Neapolitan Novels.’ The four-part book series, which has recently become a hit with U.S. readers, is set to be adapted for television in a co-production from FremantleMedia’s Wildside (Italy’s leading TV production company) and Fandango Productions.
The series follows close friends Elena and Raffaella, who grow up together during the 1950s in a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples. This coming-of-age tale — which ultimately spans two decades of the women’s lives — sees them struggle against the stifling atmosphere of their home lives with their working-class families and explores, among other themes, the changing place of women in society and the history of the feminist movement.
The quartet’s sprawling nature makes it the ideal candidate for adaptation to the small screen. Four eight-part series are planned — one for each installment. Ferrante herself is involved in the project’s development which, according to Fandango productions CEO Domenico Procacci, has been underway at the company for some two years already. Lorenzo Mieli, managing director of Fandango’s new production partner, commented that Wildside were “very privileged to be working closely with the superbly talented Ferrante and Fandango productions to bring this rich, gripping and highly-addictive collection of novels to life.”