Ever since HBO announced that it would be airing the Italian television adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s megahit novel, My Brilliant Friend, we’ve been clamoring for any and every morsel of information about the show. The series is currently filming in Naples, of course, where Ferrante’s Neapolitan tetralogy is set, and we just might get to see Elena Greco (“Lenù”) and Raffaella Cerullo (“Lila”) on our screens in 2018, if all goes according to plan. HBO and Rai Fiction, My Brilliant Friend’s Italian state broadcaster, recently released the first production stills from the set, showing the two pairs of actresses who will be playing the novel’s best friend protagonists—and, sometimes, worst enemies—as children and as teenagers. But will we get more adaptations of the rest of the Neapolitan series? Who are the major production players, and will the adaptation live up to the hype of the beloved epic series? Here’s everything we know about My Brilliant Friend on HBO:
Who is writing HBO’s My Brilliant Friend adaptation?
My Brilliant Friend’s story is adapted from Elena Ferrante’s novel of the same name—though “Elena Ferrante” is famously a pseudonym. The show’s director said that he was working with Ferrante, corresponding over email, on the screenplays for each episode, in addition to Francesco Piccolo and Laura Paolucci.
Who is directing My Brilliant Friend?
Italian director Saverio Costanzo, who recently worked on Hungry Hearts with Adam Driver, will be helming the series.
How closely will HBO’s My Brilliant Friend adaptation follow Elena Ferrante’s novels?
Costanzo has said that Ferrante’s novels are “very literary but also very cinematographic” and that, according to Variety, he plans to stick as closely as possible to the storyline of the book. “The characters really leap out of the book and come alive. That makes it easier for us to transpose this cinematographically.”
How many episodes of My Brilliant Friend will there be?
So far, HBO is only set to air eight episodes of the show, which will cover the first novel of the same name, in which Lila and Lenù are children and teenagers. But Wildside and Fandango, the Italian production companies, want to make four series of eight episodes, one for each novel, totaling 32 episodes in the Ferrante series.
What language will My Brilliant Friend be in on HBO?
My Brilliant Friend is filmed in Italian, just as the books were written in Italian, but will air in the U.S. on HBO with English subtitles.
Who is acting in My Brilliant Friend?
According to HBO, more than 9,000 children and 500 adults from Campania, the region in Italy where Naples is located, auditioned for lead roles. My Brilliant Friend will have 150 actors and 5,000 extras. Elisa Del Genio and Ludovica Nasti play Lenù and Lila as children, while Margherita Mazzucco and Gaia Girace play Lenù and Lila as teens.
Where is My Brilliant Friend being filmed?
HBO has said that producers painstakingly re-created the Naples of Ferrante’s novels, building 215,000 square feet of sets including 14 exterior apartment buildings, five interior sets of apartments, a church, and a tunnel.
Is Elena Ferrante involved in HBO’s My Brilliant Friend adaptation?
Ferrante told The New York Times that she has so far consulted on the sets and stories in a limited capacity: “The neighborhood is a composite of different places in Naples that I know well. That’s always the case when I write, both with people or things. I don’t know what will happen on the screen. For now, my contribution to the set design is limited to a few notes on whether they look right. As far as the collaboration on the script, I don’t write, I don’t have the technical skills to do it, but I am reading the texts and send detailed notes. I still don’t know if they will take them into account. It is very likely that my notes will be used later on, in the writing of the final draft.”
When will My Brilliant Friend air on HBO?
All we know, so far, is that the show will be airing in 2018. Since the show is currently filming, we’re guessing we have to wait a while.