Production is set to begin soon on the highly anticipated prequel to Gomorrah, Sky Italia’s gritty Italian mafia drama that ran for five seasons and was set amid the tableau of the Neapolitan criminal underworld. A bit like the kind of show you’d get if you combined elements of Breaking Bad, The Wire, and Game of Thrones, Gomorrah unfolds in and around the tower blocks of the La Vele housing estate in Scampia, just outside Naples before proceeding to tell a high-octane story built around warring families, pulpy action, and ever-shifting alliances.
The original series is basically the Maserati of crime dramas. Its prequel, titled Gomorrah — The Series. The Origins, will start filming in Naples in early 2025 and will be directed by Marco D’Amore, the actor who played Ciro Di Marzio in the original show. Gomorrah head writers Leonardo Fasoli and Maddalena Ravagli are also involved with the prequel, which will tell the origin story of mafioso Pietro Savastano, the gangster who lorded over the slums and street corners of the Secondigliano neighborhood at the beginning of Gomorrah.
Fasoli and Ravagli have been working on the script with D’Amore, as well as with Roberto Saviano — the journalist who authored the bestselling exposé on which the original series is based. The prequel will recount Pietro’s rise, with a bit of a different narrative feel than the original series in that the prequel’s version of the Neapolitan underworld will be less bloody and more focused on the sale of contraband like cigarettes instead of hard drugs.
Furthermore, the plan is to ultimately stretch the prequel over three seasons, though Seasons 2 and 3 haven’t yet been officially green-lit. The prequel will also include younger versions of many of the original’s familiar characters, and its themes will almost surely focus on loss of innocence as well as the attainment of power.
Regarded as Italy’s greatest TV export of all time, Gomorrah was a megahit that eventually made its way to 190 countries, including to the US via Max. For US audiences, all five seasons of Gomorrah are available to watch on Max, as well as the spinoff movie The Immortal — the events of which take place in tandem with Gomorrah Season 4.
