‘Gomorrah’ TV Series to Get Prequel Film, With Marco D’Amore to Direct and Star

By Nick Vivarelli

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – After making his directorial debut in Season 4 of “Gomorrah,” Marco D’Amore, who plays ruthless central character Ciro Di Marzio on the mob show, is now set to direct a prequel feature film working-titled “The Immortal.”

The “” TV series prequel pic – which like the show is being produced by Cattleya for Sky Italia – will delve into “the origins of the Ciro character,” said producer Riccardo Tozzi, adding that “it might have a finale that interacts [with the series], though we are still writing it.”

The screenplay is by regular “Gomorrah” scribe Leonardo Fasoli and D’Amore himself, whose ambitions clearly go beyond acting.

“Marco did an extraordinary job directing two episodes [of ‘Gomorrah],” Tozzi said, adding that D’Amore has made the transition from actor to director by “studying how it’s done on [the ‘Gomorrah’] set.”

Tozzi said that “internationally there is a fixation” with the Ciro character D’Amore plays, even more than in Italy.

Ciro’s back story, which will be fodder for the film, is that he survived the 1980 Naples earthquake that killed his family, then grew up in an orphanage, a formative experience for his cold-hearted criminal ways, before going to work for Don Pietro Savastano and becoming a mentor for his son Genny, all the while surviving multiple attempts on his life.

Shooting is expected to start in February, with Sky’s Vision Distribution on board to distribute “The Immortal” theatrically in Italy.

“Immortal” will be a feature film spin-off of the TV show, which itself followed the groundbreaking movie “Gomorrah,” directed by Matteo Garrone and based on Roberto Saviano’s anti-mob exposé. Tozzi noted that a movie spin-off from a TV series has never been done before in Italy.

Regarding “Gomorrah’s” fourth season – which is partly shot in London and will be out next year – Tozzi said that “at the heart of this season is the displacement of each character, who is placed in a context that is not his own.”

“Suddenly they become weaker, and parts of their selves that have never emerged before during the [mob] warfare are exposed,” Tozzi said. “What emerges is the desire for a normal life…which is as moving as it is impossible.”