“Game of Thrones” star Richard Madden will once again be considered royalty, this time in Italy, as he has signed on to star alongside Dustin Hoffman in an eight-part drama series about the Medici family.
The “Cinderella” prince will play the lead role of the enterprising son Cosimo de’ Medici, and Hoffman will portray family patriarch Giovanni de’ Medici.
The series dramatizes the story of the family’s ascent from simple merchants to power brokers who sparked an economic and cultural revolution, and created a long list of powerful enemies in the process. Lux Vide and Frank Spotnitz‘s Big Light Productions are teaming up to produce, with filming set to begin in October in Rome and Florence.
“The Medici came to power at a time of great social and economic inequality,” said Spotnitz in a statement. “They were great disrupters. Their banking practices led to the creation of a middle class, making them unimaginably wealthy. The Medici in turn used their vast power and resources to challenge traditional thinking, ushering in a new era of revolutionary art and science such as the world had never seen. It’s a powerful story that resonates even now.”
The series’ executive producers are Spotnitz, Matilde and Luca Bernabei. Spotnitz created the series with Nicholas Meyer. Sergio Mimica-Gezzan will direct all eight episodes.
RAI will broadcast the series in Italy, with Wild Bunch TV overseeing international sales, launching at MIPCOM in a few weeks.