‘Game of Thrones’ Co-Executive Producer Vince Gerardis Unveils Italian Project ‘Provvidenza’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Nick Vivarelli
·2 min read

“Game of Thrones” co-executive producer Vince Gerardis is developing “Provvidenza,” a prequel to Italy’s national literary classic “I Promessi Sposi” (The Betrothed) to be set in a 16th-century plague-stricken Milan that is dirty, dark, lethal and corrupt.

After setting up a Rome-based company called CIAO, Gerardis — who specializes in packaging big world-building film and TV projects based on literary properties, such as “Game of Thrones” — has now partnered with Italian publisher Rizzoli which in October will publish a “Promessi Sposi” prequel novel, written by young Italian scholar Francesco Musesti and titled “Lodovico.”

More from Variety

Gerardis has also teamed up with Rome-based producer Maria Grazia Saccà, who is heading up his Italian outpost. They have started shopping the project to broadcasters and streamers.

The prequel novel is centered around the backstory of the character of Friar Christopher, who before converting, murdered a nobleman in a duel, and also that of other characters in the Italian classic: the ruthless aristocratic male known as The Unnamed; a thug named Griso; the pious Cardinal Borromeo; and the novel’s modest female protagonist Lucia, whose backstory in the prequel becomes imbued with witchcraft.

The prequel TV series spinoff of the gothic tale follows the travails of two lovers amid wars, famine, bread riots and the plague, and will retain the novel’s same apocalyptic backdrop, albeit almost 40 years earlier, which is an important element.

“In the novel, the plague changes the destiny of the main character [Renzo],” said Saccà, who called the prequel TV project “very current,” due to COVID-19.

“In our story the plague is a central element like winter in ‘Game of Thrones,'” she noted.

“I believe that within ‘Promessi Sposi’ and their surrounding world, there is something greater to optimize,” Gerardis said. “It’s a no-brainer for Italy,” he added. “If ever there was a property to do some kind of business beyond film content, this should be it.”

“Provvidenza” is being shopped as a dark tragedy set in a cruel but still entirely human-centered society with the nocturnal and psychological elements of some of the “Batman” movies; the carnal and spiritual aesthetic of Caravaggio paintings; and “Game of Thrones”-type storylines.

Gerardis will be travelling to Italy in July to attend the Audio-Visual Producers Summit, organized by Italy’s TV producers’ association APA and the Producers Guild of America in the southern town of Matera.

CIAO, which stands for Creatività Italiana Americana Organizzata, or organized Italian/American creativity, is represented internationally by CAA Global TV agent Micheal Gordon.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • The Magic has only begun

    Two world-renowned Vegas magicians; Sean Watson and Chanelle Munroe recently gave Thompson a glimpse of their illusionist performance. They held a teaser show for the community's council and leaders to excite their taste for more on a much bigger scale. With just a few tricks pulled out of the hat, their showmanship made us all scratch our heads, giving the highest quality of stage presence and sleight of hand. Anticipation has been building up the last few weeks as Sean and Chanelle plan to do

  • Grey Highlands Council Digest

    Grey Highlands council received review of its new waste cart system, looks at year-end financials and chooses a representative for the Rotary Park committee. EUGENIA & DISTRICT CIA The minutes for Eugenia and District Community Improvement Association came to council. These noted that weather interfered with skating this winter, although the rink was used for a few weeks. The date for the Gold Rush celebration is Saturday, June 22. Plans are to have a scaled-down event due to less money being av

  • What Makes Airbnb (ABNB) a Potential Investment?

    Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen Global Growth Strategy” first-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the first quarter, the fund increased 8.10% gross and 7.81% net, respectively, trailing the MSCI ACW Index’s 8.20% return. The market dynamics that were in place at the end […]

  • New technology featured in better learning

    The University College of the North (UCN) has entered into a partnership with Georgian College in Barrie, Ontario, to bring interactive teaching tools to UCN's Centre for Aboriginal Languages and Culture. The initiative dubbed the "XR Project," aims to provide context-based language learning for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Northern Manitoba. The "XR" in "XR Project" stands for virtual, hybrid, and augmented reality technology, which will enable UCN to leverage the latest teaching too

  • Bomb threat evacuates Louisville zoo

    The zoo has been given the all-clear after police said it appears to be a ‘false call’

  • Emma Raducanu vs Iga Swiatek LIVE: Updates and scores from Tennis Grand Prix quarter-finals in Stuttgart

    The 21-year-old Brit has returned to form but now faces the world No1 in the last eight of the Porsche Grand Prix

  • This versatile Amazon maxi dress is a 'must buy' for summer — and it's under $65

    Amazon shoppers call this 100 per cent cotton dress “a total win" that you can dress up or down.

  • Caviar, champagne, and IPOs: At the Jefferies Private Internet Conference, tech dealmaking was back

    Jefferies resumed this conference in 2022 but there was not much to talk about in the way of actual deals. Now the logjam is finally breaking.

  • Royal Mail staff ‘use Google to verify fake stamps’, whistleblowers claim

    Poorly trained Royal Mail staff are using Google to identify counterfeit stamps amid growing concerns letter recipients are being wrongly fined, whistleblowers have told The Telegraph.

  • Fourteen years of Tory rule have left Britain a lazy, dangerous, Left-wing mess

    At the Press Awards on Thursday night, where we were both losers, my cartoonist colleague Matt (Pritchett) provided a perfect summary of the current consensus among Conservative voters. Telegraph readers, he observed, seemed to agree on two things: “That the Tories deserve to be booted out, and that Labour will be even worse”.

  • Legion Ladies continuing their donation support

    The U15 Little Chiefs hockey team were given a generous donation by the Legion Ladies Auxiliary in Thompson, Manitoba, through their Remembrance Day tea fundraiser, and received an incredible $3820 profit from the event. The Legion Ladies Auxiliary is a small volunteer group that provides a venue for other organizations to fundraise for various causes. They have been helping local groups in Thompson, Manitoba, for years, including the TuTu & Turns Dance Group, the RD Parker Vimy Ridge Tour Group

  • Short sellers recoup losses as rally in US stocks loses steam

    Short sellers have been raking it in over the last 30 days as receding bets of an early interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve triggered a selloff in the equity market. Traders have made a mark-to-market profit of more than $25 billion up to Thursday from covering their short positions, said Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of predictive analytics at S3 Partners, more than erasing their $14.8 billion in losses so far this year. The current weakness in the market allows them to cover a portion of those heavy losses.

  • AI Chip Leader Arm Stock Dives Below A Key Support Level, Is It A Buy Right Now?

    AI chip stock Arm Holdings surged more than 152% past a recent buy point. Following that advance, is Arm stock a buy in today's stock market?

  • Ukraine and Israel aid packages head for House vote in defiance of GOP far right

    Democrats stepped up for the Republican speaker’s foreign aid bills

  • About 370 units proposed for Lower Talisman

    About 370 townhouses and multi-level units are proposed for Lower Talisman, in a plan submitted to Grey County. The development would be just north of the small village of Kimberley. The mapping at this stage includes “blocks” not individual lots. There are two blocks beside Grey 7 (about 45 acres) suggested to be conveyed to the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority. Between six and seven acres will be kept as natural heritage area within the development site. Beaver Valley Development Group is th

  • COVID crisis saw 4,000 nursing home workers call in sick in New Brunswick

    As the pandemic raged, more than 4,000 nursing home staff in New Brunswick called in sick, forcing the province to call in dozens of outside workers to keep them running, says the social development minister. Jill Green provided the startling figure on Thursday under questioning in the legislature during the committee examining main estimates. The number represents more than half the staff in the province’s 75 licensed homes. She said that in the six-month period between February and July 2022,

  • Analysis-Ample oil supplies limit impact of MidEast flare-up on prices

    Plentiful supplies of some of the biggest crude grades are limiting the impact on benchmark oil futures prices of conflict in the Middle East, according to analysts and traders. To date, the conflict has not had a big impact on oil supplies from the Middle East, the world's top producing region. "In the absence of actual supply/production issues this market will struggle to convincingly challenge the annual peaks reached at the end of last week," said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM.

  • Magnificent Seven Stocks To Buy And Watch: Nvidia Stock Dives Below Key Level

    Magnificent Seven stocks, including AI leader Nvidia, are among the best stocks to buy and watch in today's stock market.

  • California court to weigh in on fight over transgender ballot measure proposal language

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A group backing a proposed ballot measure in California that would require school staff to notify parents if their child asks to change gender identification at schools is battling the attorney general in court Friday, arguing he released misleading information about the proposal to the public. The group is suing Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat, in Sacramento Superior Court. They want the measure's title to be changed from the “Restrict Rights of Transgender Yout

  • New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba may be the most interesting man in hockey

    Jacob Trouba is captain of the best team in the NHL this season, the New York Rangers, one of the oldest franchises in hockey in one of the world's greatest sports towns. The big-hitting American defenceman is also an artist, philanthropist, advocate and, most recently, an actor in a commercial urging early cancer detection. He might be the most interesting man in hockey. Trouba asked for a trade from Winnipeg to a team in the U.S. so his then-fiancée could pursue her medical career. He was the