Mellville House

Good news for all of those afflicted with the most contagious infection around, Ferrante Fever: Elena Ferrante’sNeapolitan Series is being adapted into an eight-part Italian TV drama.

Benedicte Page at The Booksellerreports that the Italian TV and film production companies Wildside and Fandango will co-create and co-produce the series. Further assistance will come from the mysterious author herself who, according to The Bookseller, has been “involved throughout the project.”

Domenico Procacci, the CEO of Fantango, said of the project:

It has been two years now since Fandango began working on My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante and we’ve seen the potential of this project grow day by day. I’m confident that together with Wildside we can realize something great, very respectful of Ferrante’s work and our Italian culture and, at the same time, with real international appeal.

Brian Moylan at The Guardian’s TV and radio blog offered some insight into how the production would work:

Each of her four novels will be adapted into an eight-episode season, for 32 episodes in total. There is no news yet on when and where the series will air and Wildside is still looking for international co-production partners. It’s using a model that is increasingly popular in the television industry: producers and networks from different countries come together to finance and distribute a program.

Two questions remain: which estimable production companies will step up and bring the series to English and American fans, and is Ann Goldstein available for the subtitles?