When you’re Netflix, adding millions of subscribers during a global pandemic, you can go into the weeds in search of content.
The SVOD behemoth and Fandango, a small Italian movie production company, are joining forces to develop a series based on The Lying Life of Adults, the latest fiction by the Italian novelist Elena Ferrante.
The Lying Life of Adults is a portrayal of a young girl in search of her true reflection in a divided Naples: the Naples of the heights, which assumes a mask of refinement, and the Naples of the depths, a place of excess and vulgarity. Adrift, she vacillates between these two cities, falling into one then climbing back to the other.
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The book, released by Edizioni E/O in Italy on November 7, 2019, will be launched globally in 25 countries on Sept. 1st and it will be published in English by Europa Editions U.S. and U.K.
Ferrante was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of the Year in 2016 and her books have been translated into 45 languages. Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet are among her best-known works with 15 million copies sold so far and several of her books have been adapted into movies (Troubling Love and The Days of Abandonment) and series (“My Brilliant Friend” on HBO with Fandango among producers).
Felipe Tewes, director of local language original series at Netflix, said Ferrante’s books have inspired and captivated audiences in Italy and around the world — prerequisites for developing original content for regional and global audiences.
“We are also excited to continue our partnership with Fandango, and invest in more unique ‘Made In Italy’ stories that we believe will resonate in Italy and around the world,” Towes said in a statement.
Netflix has more than two million subscribers in Italy, investing more than 200 million euros ($217 million) through 2021 in Italian productions.