Netflix’s new Italian original ‘The Monster of Florence’ has become a huge hit, taking the No. 1 spot worldwide on the streaming giant.
The serial killer series, directed by genre specialist Stefano Sollima, rose to the top of Netflix’s non-English programming chart with 9.6 million views during the week of October 20-26, according to Netflix statistics.
During the same period, “Nobody Wants This” Season 2 topped Netflix’s English-language programming chart with 8.6 million views, while Italy’s “Monster” became the streamer’s No. 1 TV show overall last week.
According to Netflix statistics from October 20th to 26th, “The Monster of Florence”, which began streaming on October 22nd, reached number one in 44 Netflix regions around the world and was in the top 10 in 85 countries.
The true crime show’s title is the nickname given to an alleged serial killer who committed eight double murders over a 17-year period from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, targeting couples in cars parked in secluded areas around Florence. The “Monster of Florence” always used the same weapon, the .22 caliber Beretta.
These unsolved serial murders have fascinated Italians for decades. Now they are captivating the world.
The four-episode limited series will be shot primarily in and around Florence, reuniting Sollima with writer Leonardo Fasoli and ace Italian cinematographer Paolo Carnera. Both worked together with Sollima on “Gomorrah” and the cocaine trafficking drama “Zero Zero Zero.”
“We congratulate Stefano Sollima, Leonardo Fasoli and our incredibly talented partners at Alterego, as well as our colleagues at The Apartment, and thank the Netflix team for their unwavering support,” Fremantle Group COO and CEO Continental Europe, Andrea Scrosati, said in a statement.
“The global success of ‘Monsters of Florence’ on Netflix underscores the power and impact of great storytelling, no matter where it comes from,” Scrosati added.
‘The Monster of Florence’ is being produced by Fremantle companies The Apartment and Sollima’s AlterEgo shingles. Producers are Lorenzo Mieri, Stefano Sollima, and Gina Guardini.
Each of the show’s four episodes tells the story of a man who, at one point, investigators believed was the murderer.
Director Sollima, who has directed the Gomorrah and ZeroZeroZero series as well as Hollywood films such as Sicario: Day of the Soldado and No Regrets, spent more than a year investigating the murder. He chose to follow the lead of several cold case investigations, starting with a case known as the “Sardinian lead,” created by an extramarital Sardinian couple living in Tuscany.
“By portraying the suspects individually, we were able to explore monstrosity in a broader sense, not just the alleged Monster of Florence, but the monstrosity that some of these characters exhibited in their intimate relationships, their familial relationships, their friendships,” the director told Variety in September at the Venice Film Festival, where The Monster of Florence premiered.
“Then all of a sudden I realized that the story was much broader and centered around the investigation of Man and his role as an agent of evil, rather than the hunt for the Florentine monster.”
