‘The Leopard’ First Look: Netflix Reimagines Classic Novel and Promises ‘Great Artistic and Production Ambition’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Netflix has released first-look images of limited series “The Leopard,” based on the classic Sicily-set novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that marks the streamer’s most ambitious Italian original to date.

Production on the lavish historical tapestry with elements comparable to “Downton Abbey” or “The Crown” – and potential to make a global mark – is currently underway in the Sicilian cities of Palermo, Syracuse and Catania. The show is a modern take on the sensual Sicilian saga famously adapted into a film by Luchino Visconti starring Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon and Burt Lancaster. The movie, now an Italian cinema classic, won the 1963 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Published posthumously in 1958, “The Leopard” chronicles the changes in Sicilian life and society during the 19th century unification of Italy, known as the Risorgimento. It became the top-selling novel in modern Italian literature of its day and was translated into more than 40 different languages.

The six-episode epic set against the backdrop of social revolution in 1860s Sicily stars top model Deva Cassel — who is Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel’s daughter — as Angelica Sedara, the young, stunning middle class woman who becomes a catalyst of social disruption and was played by Cardinale in the original. It’s a big breakout role for Cassel, seen below, who recently made her acting debut in Laura Luchetti’s Locarno-bound “The Beautiful Summer.”

Italy’s Kim Rossi Stewart (“Romanzo Criminale”) plays Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina, who in the masterpiece movie was played by Lancaster. The show’s key cast also includes Saul Nanni (“Love & Gelato”) as the prince’s nephew Tancredi Falconeri, played by Alain Delon in the film. Benedetta Porcaroli (“Baby”) plays Concetta, his cousin, who is madly in love with Tancredi (see image below).

In an exclusive statement, Eleonora Andreatta – who as Netflix’s VP of Italian originals, oversees the streamer’s local output of original series, movies, and non-scripted shows – underlined that the series “represents the great artistic and productive ambition of Netflix in Italy,” and added that “‘The Leopard’ aims to turn into a sumptuous and exciting series the vitality and contemporary relevance of Tommasi di Lampedusa’s masterpiece.”

Andreatta went on to praise the book as “one of those novels that have the rare quality of depicting a moment in history and at the same transcending time, thanks to the centrality of a character — the Prince of Salina — who has become a myth in and of himself but also stands for a particular gaze on life and on mankind.”

The Netflix Italy chief noted that though almost 70 years have gone by since the book shook the 1950s literary world, its story “continues to surprise for the richness of current events it contains.”

“Just as in the novel, even today we are faced with a society caught in the uncertainty of a transition, in which old traditions collide with new emerging ideas and values,” Andreatta said.

“The contrast between the Prince of Salina and young Tancredi represents the dialectic between the preservation of the past and adherence to change, a theme that continues to resonate strongly in our society that is searching for reference points, especially among the new generations,” Andreatta further elaborated, making it clear that the show targets younger generations as well as older audiences.

British director Tom Shankland, whose credits include Netflix’s true crime series “The Serpent,” is the lead director on “The Leopard” series. Richard Worlow, who previously worked with Shankland on “The Serpent,” is penning the script alongside Benji Walters. Italian directors Giuseppe Capotondi and Laura Luchetti are helming Episodes 4 and 5, respectively.

As for the production values, Andreatta noted that just like the Visconti movie, “We chose to shoot on location, from Palermo to Syracuse and Catania, which has allowed us to capture the variety of this marvelous environment, rich in beauty and with a history of stratified civilization that mixes Greek and Arab and Norman cultures. This, too, is ‘The Leopard.'”

She continued, “We immersed ourselves in the opulence of the 19th century, among amazing Baroque palaces and the lively colors of a land parched by the sun. This is a great value that we are sure can fascinate Italian audiences , but also conquer international viewers with its magic.”

“Freedom of thought, equality and the desire for change in the face of stagnation are among the fundamental themes that writers Warlow and Walters have cleverly woven into the scripts throughout the six episodes of the season,” said producer Fabrizio Donvito of Italy’s expanding Indiana Production. The shingle is producing “The Leopard” in tandem with Moonage Pictures, the U.K. banner headed by the producers behind “Peaky Blinders.”

Donvito noted that the production involves thousands of extras and custom-made costumes, furnishings and sets created after a long meticulous study of the period.

“There is breathtaking craftsmanship here,” said Moonage Pictures co-founder Will Gould, noting “Richard Warlow’s beautiful scripts brought to life by truly exceptional performances by Kim and the band of actors.”

“There is a rare creative alchemy at work that is elevating this production beyond even our highest hopes, producing something that is so special; that is quintessentially Italian but that is going to entrance and delight a global audience,” Gould added.

The budget and release date of Netflix’s “The Leopard” are being kept under wraps.