‘Gomorrah’ Prequel Series to Be Directed by Marco D’Amore

“Gomorrah,” the gritty Neapolitan mob series that became Italy’s biggest TV export, is back — albeit in a distinct time-frame.

Shooting is ready to start out in early 2025 in Naples on “Gomorrah – The Series. The Origins,” the hit crime drama’s previously announced origin story that can be directed by Marco D’Amore, the actor who played ruthless central character Ciro Di Marzio on the show.

D’Amore, who previously helmed several episodes of the series in addition to a prequel feature film to “Gomorrah” titled “The Immortal” – and subsequently further honed his behind-the-camera chops directing Naples-set movies “Napoli Magica” and “Caracas” – officially announced on Tuesday that he’ll lead-direct this recent project in a video to which Variety has been given exclusive access.

“Today I’m here to inform you that we’ll finally explore the saga’s origins,” D’Amore says within the video, which may be viewed above. He underlines that, similar to the hyper-realistic original, this six-episode “Gomorrah” prequel can be firmly “rooted in point of fact.”

The “Gomorrah” origin story will recount the rise of mobster Pietro Savastano within the Seventies, when the Neapolitan criminal underworld was pervasive but less cutthroat — more tied to selling contraband cigarettes than large amounts of medicine — because the show’s lead producer Riccardo Tozzi, chief of ITV-owned Cattleya, had previously revealed.

“‘Gomorrah – The Series’ has now taken on a mythological profile,” Tozzi said in an announcement on Tuesday, adding that they “had many doubts about touching this inimitable subject again.”

“But the concept that formed inside the creative group on the origin of the series, along with one in all its leads, Marco, seemed so easy and powerful that it convinced us to start out again,” Tozzi added.

“In a Naples of yesteryear, the young Pietro doesn’t know that he’ll turn out to be Savastano, nor does Imma, nor does the group of unaware and energetic young individuals who accompany the start of his criminal adventure,” Tozzi went on to clarify.

Said Nils Hartmann, EVP Sky Studios Italy: “I’m very pleased that a talent whom I love as each an actor and a director is returning to be a part of the Gomorrah family — after having been a protagonist.”

Hartmann added, “We’ve got shared this adventure with Marco from the start, and I’m certain that his vision will bring invaluable energy to a brand new and unprecedented chapter of the saga. Telling the story of Pietro Savastano’s adolescence within the prequel can be an exciting and highly ambitious challenge. All of this makes me proud, and I can’t wait to see the primary clapperboard snap.”

Leonardo Fasoli and Maddalena Ravagli, who were among the many writers of the unique “Gomorrah” saga, have been working on the script along with D’Amore, who also serves as artistic supervisor, in addition to Roberto Saviano, who wrote the bestselling Neapolitan mob exposé on which the series relies.

Some episodes of the series can be directed by regular D’Amore collaborator Francesco Ghiaccio.

Casting of the prequel has not yet been announced, but is anticipated to involve using young rising local talents, some possibly being non-professionals.

“Gomorrah,” which launched on Sky in 2014, brought audiences contained in the belly of the true Neapolitan criminal underworld, thanks partially to being shot almost entirely within the actual places it portrays. Besides attaining megahit status in Italy, “Gomorrah” has traveled to 190 countries, including on HBO Max within the U.S.

Identical to the unique, “Gomorrah – The Series. The Origins” is being produced by Sky Studios and Cattleya, which is a component of ITV Studios, and can be sold internationally by Beta Film.