Sky Italia has released first-look images of its upcoming high-end series “Gucci: Game Over,” which the Comcast-owned pay-TV service has described as Italy’s answer to Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci” film.
Miriam Leone (“The Lions of Sicily”) (pictured above) is playing Patrizia Reggiani, the former socialite convicted of hiring a hitman to murder her ex-husband. This is the role played by Lady Gaga in “House of Gucci.” Francesco Scianna (“Mary Magdalen”) (pictured below) is playing Maurizio Gucci, whom Reggiani ordered the hit on.
And Matilda Lutz (“Final Cut”) (pictured below) is taking on the role of Allegra Gucci, the daughter of Maurizio Gucci and Patrizia Reggiani whose memoir the Sky show is based on.
Nils Hartmann, the now outgoing EVP of Sky Studios Italy, has repeatedly called “Gucci: Game Over” Italy’s response to “House of Gucci.” Italy’s film community was not pleased about that fact that Scott did not use any Italian actors in lead “House of Gucci” roles, among other objections.
The six-episode Italian series made for the international market — which is currently shooting in Italy — is being directed by Gabriele Muccino, who helmed Will Smith-starrer “The Pursuit of Happyness” and a slew of Italian film and TV hits. It is being co-produced by Sky Studios and Italy’s Lucky Red.
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Other Gucci family members Aldo, Rodolfo and Paolo Gucci are being played by Francesco Acquaroli, Paolo Pierobon and Sergio Romano, respectively, it was announced on Tuesday.
As previously announced, the Sky original is based on a memoir by Allegra Gucci, which is in the form of letters to her murdered father. The book, which reveals many family secrets, talks about her parents’ relationship before and after the divorce and describes details of the murder. On March 27, 1995, Maurizio Gucci, the head of the Gucci fashion house and grandson of brand founder Guccio Gucci, was shot dead on the doorstep of his Milan office. The crime was organized by Reggiani, who was convicted in 1998.
The “Gucci: Game Over” limited series will depict the vicissitudes of the iconic family-owned fashion empire, which imploded due to feuding, using multiple timelines. The narrative will be told through the eyes of both Reggiani and her daughter Allegra. Sky has said that the idea is to “reconstruct the truth and identity of Allegra’s family in the timeless drama of a great Italian dynasty that, consumed by the struggle for power, ended up self-destructing.”
“Nobody is better suited than Gabriele [Muccino] in Italy to recount the sanguine saga of a powerful and turbulent family like the Gucci’s,” new Sky Studios Italia chief Emanuele Marchesi said at the Sky Italia upfronts presentation.
The plan is for “Gucci: Game Over” to air on Sky in 2027.