''Django'' is an upcoming television series created by Leonardo Fasoli and Maddalena Ravagli co-produced by

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HBO ...

and

Canal+ Canal+ (Canal Plus, , meaning 'Channel Plus'; sometimes abbreviated C+ or Canal) is a French premium television channel launched in 1984. It is 100% owned by the Groupe Canal+, which in turn is owned by Vivendi. The channel broadcasts several ki ...

. It is an English-language reimagining of the 1966 Italian film of the same name by

Sergio Corbucci Sergio Corbucci (; 6 December 1926 – 1 December 1990) was an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed both very violent Spaghetti Westerns and bloodless Bud Spencer and Terence Hill action comedies. He is the older bro ...

. The first series, consisting of ten episodes, is set to premiere on

on February 17, 2023.

Premise

The series takes place in the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

of the 1860s–1870s. Django finds his way to New Babylon, a city founded by John Ellis, where all manner of outcasts are welcome regardless of their background or beliefs. Eight years earlier, Django's family was murdered, but he believes that his daughter Sarah survived and has been searching for her ever since. Django finds her in New Babylon, but she is about to marry Ellis. However, Sarah does not want Django to remain in town, fearing that trouble will follow him. Django is determined not to leave her again, and reconnect with his daughter.

Cast

Main

Matthias Schoenaerts Matthias Schoenaerts (; ; born 8 December 1977) is a Belgian actor. He made his film debut at the age of 13 in '' Daens'' (1992), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. He is best known for his roles as Filip in ...

as Django, a man searching for his daughter, Sarah, after the rest of their family was murdered. *

Nicholas Pinnock Nicholas Andre Pinnock (born 2 September 1973) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as lead character Aaron Wallace in the American legal drama '' For Life'' and Leon in award-winning Channel 4 drama ''Top Boy''. Early life and educa ...

as John Ellis, the founder of New Babylon, a welcoming city to outcasts of any background. *

Lisa Vicari Lisa Vicari (born 11 February 1997) is a German actress. She is known for portraying Martha Nielsen in the Netflix series ''Dark (TV series), Dark'' and the lead role of Isi in the Netflix original film ''Isi & Ossi''. Biography Vicari was born ...

as Sarah, Django's long lost daughter, set to marry John Ellis. *

Noomi Rapace Noomi Rapace (; ; born 28 December 1979) is a Swedish actress.Karen Olsson, ''The New York Times Magazine'', 27 May 2012, p. 26. She achieved international fame with her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish film adaptations of the ''Mil ...

as Elizabeth, the merciless enemy of John Ellis.

Recurring

* Jyuddah Jaymes, Eric Kole, and Benny O. Arthur and Elliot Edusah as John Ellis' sons.

Episodes

Production

Development

The series was announced and commissioned by

Sky Italia Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo and Sky TG24. As of 2018, following an agree ...

Sky Studios Sky Studios is a production company founded by Sky in June 2019 with assets from the now defunct Sky Vision. It develops, produces and funds original drama, comedy and documentary, and has investments in a number of production businesses in t ...

and

in April 2015 as being developed as an Italian-French co-production by Cattleya and Atlantique Productions. It was originally to consist of 12 fifty-minute-long episodes, with the potential for future seasons. Maddalena Ravagli wrote a series treatment with Francesco Cenni and Michele Pellegrini loosely based on the 1966 film ''Django'', directed by

, and Ravagli went on to create and write the series with Leonardo Fasoli.

Francesca Comencini Francesca Comencini (; born 19 August 1961) is an Italian film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment o ...

was set to direct the first episodes of the 10-episode series and serve as the artistic director.

Casting

In February 2021, it was announced that

had been cast as Django. In May 2021, additional casting was announced including

, and

, among several more.

Filming

The production worked with

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

-based Frame Film to coordinate filming in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. Initially planned to run from November 2020 to December 2021, preparations for filming actually began in February 2021. The production closed the

Racoș Racoș (also ''Racoșul de Jos''; german: Unter-Krebsdorf; hu, Alsórákos) is a commune in Brașov County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Mateiaș (''Mátéfalva'') and Racoș. The commune is located at the northern edg ...

(Alsórákos) volcano to outside visitors without advanced notice. This caused a disruption for visitors that had planned visits to the popular tourist destination, only to be turned away by posted signs warning that they could not enter or take photos of the area. ''Django'' is the largest television production in Romania, taking advantage of the country's cash rebate incentives and an early re-opening to international productions without quarantine requirements provided

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

vaccinations are complete. Set design was done by

scenographer A scenographer or production designer, develops the appearance of a stage design, a TV or movie set, a gaming environment, a trade fair exhibition design or a museum experience exhibition design. The term originated in theater. A scenographer work ...

Paki Meduri, who constructed New Babylon in Racoș using construction methods from the era to create scenery resembling the Old West. The production began filming in May 2021, with filming expected to continue for over six months. Additional filming will take place in

and the Danube area.

Release

The first two episodes were screened at the Rome Film Festival on October 16, 2022.

References

External links

* {{Sky Atlantic 2023 British television series debuts 2023 British television series endings 2020s British drama television series 2020s British television miniseries Canal+ original programming Sky Atlantic original programming Upcoming television series Television shows filmed in Romania English-language television shows 2020s Western (genre) television series Television series set in the 1860s Television series set in the 1870s