Bruno Testori: Celebs Rumors

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentFollowing “Gomorrah” and “The Young Pope,” Sky continues to bring to the screen fresh edgy TV series with “The King,” which is Italy’s first prison drama but transcends genre tropes to recount the country’s complex way of contending with evil forces, including terrorism.The dark skein, currently playing in Italy on Comcast-owned Sky’s pay-TV service –– and premiering internationally in competition at Series Mania –– is the brainchild of Italian A-list actor Luca Zingaretti, best known as the titular character in Italy’s widely exported “Inspector Montalbano” series.After playing a a simpatico Mafia-fighting Sicilian sleuth in “Montalbano,” Zingaretti “wanted to do a show set in an Italian maximum security penitentiary and play a character who was the head of this jail,” says “The King” producer Lorenzo Mieli. Zingaretti’s character, named Bruno Testori, is the “supreme ruler” of the San Michele penitentiary, which is packed with hard core criminals of various types and located on an unspecified Italian border zone that is not subjected to Italian law.“Being the custodian of these evil people, he has to negotiate with evil,” says Mieli.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentProducer Lorenzo Mieli, who has brought to the screen top Italian TV series such as “The Young Pope” and “My Brilliant Friend,” is launching two new crime shows with innovative elements: “The King” and “Bang Bang Baby.”Both stem from his bent to push boundaries of genre storytelling that is “borne from authenticity,” he says.“The King,” which is Italy’s first prison drama, recently bowed positively in Italy on Comcast-owned Sky’s pay-TV service and also premiered internationally at the Series Mania fest.The dark show stars Luca Zingaretti, best known as the titular character in Italy’s widely exported “Inspector Montalbano” series. He plays Bruno Testori the sometimes psychopathic director of a maximum security penitentiary located on an unspecified Italian border territory that is not subject to Italian law.

Andreas Wiseman International EditorSky Italia has ordered prison drama Il Re (The King), which will star Italian actor Luca Zingaretti, well known locally for the Inspector Montalbano series. The Italian-language series will be set in the prison of San Michele where Bruno Testori (Zingaretti), the director, applies his own personal idea of justice. While outside the prison his life is far from ordered, inside he is the absolute ruler.