''M. Son of the Century'' ( it, M. Il figlio del secolo) is an upcoming

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

television series directed by Joe Wright, based on the 2018 novel of the same name by

Antonio Scurati Antonio Scurati (born 25 June 1969) is an Italian writer and academic. In 2019, he was awarded the prestigious Strega Prize for his novel ''M. Son of the Century, M: Son of the Century'' (2018). Early life and education Scurati was born in Na ...

. Starring

Luca Marinelli Luca Marinelli (born 22 October 1984) is an Italian actor. He is best known for the roles of Guido in ''Every Blessed Day'' (2012), Andrea in ''The Great Beauty'' (2013), Cesare in ''Don't Be Bad'' (2015), The Gipsy in ''They Call Me Jeeg'' (201 ...

, the series centers on the early political career of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

in the 1920s. It will premiere at the

81st Venice International Film Festival The 81st annual Venice International Film Festival will be held from 28 August to 7 September 2024, at Venice Lido in Italy. Tim Burton's '' Beetlejuice Beetlejuice'' will open the festival on 28 August 2024. French actress Isabelle Huppert will ...

on 5 September 2024 and will be aired on Sky Atlantic in 2025.

Premise

The series follows

's early career from his founding of the '' Fasci Italiani'' in 1919 through the assassination of socialist politician Giacomo Matteotti in 1924.

Cast

Francesco Russo Francesco Russo (born 23 December 1981) is an Italian footballer who currently plays for USD CasateseRogoredo as a goalkeeper. Biography Russo left for Lecco from Torino in 2001 in co-ownership deal, along with Marco Andreotti. In 2002, he le ...

as Cesare Rossi * Barbara Chichiarelli as

Margherita Sarfatti Margherita Sarfatti (née Grassini; 8 April 1880 – 30 October 1961) was an Italian journalist, art critic, patron, collector, socialite, and prominent propaganda adviser of the National Fascist Party. She was Benito Mussolini's biographer as we ...

* Benedetta Cimatti as Donna Rachele * Federico Majorana as

Amerigo Dumini Amerigo Dumini (January 3, 1894 – December 25, 1967) was an American-born Italian fascist hitman who led the group responsible for the 1924 assassination of Unitary Socialist Party leader Giacomo Matteotti. Biography ...

* as Giacomo Matteotti *

Fulvio Falzarano Fulvio Falzarano is an Italian actor. Career Fulvio Falzarano has worked in various companies in major Italian theaters. He worked with directors such as Mario Monicelli, Armando Pugliese, Renato Sarti and Giorgio Pressburger. He participate ...

Giovanni Giolitti Giovanni Giolitti (; 27 October 1842 – 17 July 1928) was an Italian statesman. He was the Prime Minister of Italy five times between 1892 and 1921. After Benito Mussolini, he is the second-longest serving Prime Minister in Italian history. A pr ...

* as Alfredo Rocco * Lorenzo Zurzolo as Italo Balbo *

Vincenzo Nemolato Vincenzo Nemolato (born 10 September 1989) is an Italian actor. Biography Vincenzo Nemolato was born in Scampia, Naples. His father is a metalworker and his mother works for a cleaning company. His brother, Luca, is a concept artist in Los Ange ...

as Victor Emmanuel III * as

Dino Grandi Dino Grandi (4 June 1895 – 21 May 1988), 1st Conte di Mordano, was an Italian Fascist politician, minister of justice, minister of foreign affairs and president of parliament. Early life Born at Mordano, province of Bologna, Grandi was a gr ...

* Gabriele Falsetta as Roberto Farinacci *

Maurizio Lombardi Maurizio Lombardi (born 17 November 1973) is an Italian actor, playwright and stage director. Life and career Lombardi started his career in the stage company of , where he stayed ten years. He later formed the “Piccoli Briganti” stage comp ...

Emilio De Bono Emilio De Bono (19 March 1866 – 11 January 1944) was an Italian general, fascist activist, marshal, and member of the Fascist Grand Council (''Gran Consiglio del Fascismo''). De Bono fought in the Italo-Turkish War, the First World War and the ...

* Daniele Trombetti as

Cesare Forni Cesare Forni (Vespolate, 17 November 1890 - Milan, 2 July 1943) was an Italian politician. Life Born in 1890 into a wealthy family of lomellini agricultural tenants, he studied engineering at the Turin Polytechnic without completing his studies. ...

* as Cesare Maria de Vecchi * Alberto Astorri as

Luigi Facta Luigi Facta (16 November 1861 – 5 November 1930) was an Italian politician, lawyer and journalist and the last Prime Minister of Italy before the leadership of Benito Mussolini. Background and earlier career Facta was born in Pinerolo, Piedm ...

* as Gabriele D'Annunzio * as

Don Luigi Sturzo Luigi Sturzo (; 26 November 1871 – 8 August 1959) was an Italian Catholic priest and prominent politician. He was known in his lifetime as a " clerical socialist" and is considered one of the fathers of the Christian democratic platform. He w ...

* Federico Mainardi as * as

Harukichi Shimoi was a Japanese poet and writer that lived in Italy for many years and was influential in introducing the haiku to European literature. Biography Born in Fukuoka as , he later adopted the surname of his wife when they married in 1907. He finis ...

* Jessica Piccolo Valerani as

Ida Dalser Ida Irene Dalser (20 August 1880 – 3 December 1937) was the first wife of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Early life Ida Dalser was born in Sopramonte, a village near Trento (Trient), which was then within the borders of the County ...

* as Queen Elena * as * Giovanni Alfieri as * Amedeo Gullà as Augusto Malacria * Michele Ferrantino as Giuseppe Viola * Cosima Centurioni as Bianca Ceccato * Daniele Paoloni as Rodolfo De Bernardt * Claudio Bigagli as Generale

Episodes

Production

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 ...

ordered the series in April 2022. At the Rome Film Festival in October 2022, it was announced that Joe Wright would direct the series with

playing

. Marinelli was producer

Lorenzo Mieli Lorenzo may refer to: People * Lorenzo (name) Places Peru * San Lorenzo Island (Peru), sometimes referred to as the island of Lorenzo United States * Lorenzo, Illinois * Lorenzo, Texas * San Lorenzo, California, formerly Lorenzo * Lorenzo State ...

's first choice for the role. Speaking about the series, Marinelli stated: The series was filmed over a period of six months beginning in November 2022. Filming took place primarily in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

at Cinecittà Studios. Other filming locations included the

Palazzo Reale This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent. Africa * Abdin Palace, Cairo * Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo * Koubbeh Palace, Cairo * Tahra Palace, Cairo * Menelik Palace * Jubilee Palace * Guenete Leul Palace * Imperial Palace- Massa ...

and the Teatro di San Carlo in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, as well as

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

Aquileia Aquileia / / / / ;Bilingual name of ''Aquileja – Oglej'' in: vec, Aquiłeja / ; Slovenian: ''Oglej''), group=pron is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river N ...

Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gorit ...

, and Ruda in

Friuli-Venezia Giulia (man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_t ...

Release

The series was previewed at the

Riviera International Film Festival The Riviera International Film Festival (RIFF) is an international film festival dedicated to filmmakers under 35 that takes place every year in Sestri Levante. Since the 2018 edition, there is a section entirely dedicated to documentaries RIFF ...

in May 2023. A teaser trailer for the series was released on 2 August 2024. The series will be screened in its entirety at the

before premiering on Sky Atlantic in 2025.

References

External links

*
M. Son of the Century
' on

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{Sky Atlantic 2020s French drama television series 2020s Italian drama television series 2020s French television miniseries 2020s Italian television miniseries 2025 French television series debuts 2025 Italian television series debuts Cultural depictions of Benito Mussolini Historical television series Italian-language television shows Political drama television series Sky Atlantic (Italian TV channel) original programming Television series about the history of Italy Television series by Fremantle (company) Television series set in 1919 Television series set in 1925 Television series set in the 1910s Television series set in the 1920s Television shows based on Italian novels Television shows filmed in Italy Television shows set in Italy Upcoming drama television series Works about Italian fascism