Oscar-winning French filmmaker Florian Zeller is joining forces with Italian producers Lorenzo Mieli and Domenico Procacci to direct, write and co-produce a drama series adaptation of The Lehman Trilogy, based on the Tony award-winning play by Italian playwright Stefano Massini.
It will be Zeller’s first production through his newly-formed banner Blue Morning Pictures, and will be made in collaboration with Procacci’s Fandango and Mieli’s Fremantle-owned The Apartment.
The epic drama series follows three immigrant brothers who arrive in America and launch an investment firm, exploring the complex dealings of international financial institutions and how their actions triggered the 2008 financial crisis.
An acclaimed English-language stage version of The Lehman Trilogy directed by Sam Mendes, which was produced for the UK’s National Theatre before transferring to the West End and Broadway, won five Tony Awards earlier this year, including for Mendes and lead actor Simon Russell Beale.
“It’s a fascinating tale of family and power which spans decades in an ever-changing social and political landscape in America,” said Zeller. “I could not dream of a richer canvas on which to work.”
Zeller recently participated at the 79th Venice Film Festival with The Son, his follow-up to The Father for which he won the best adapted screenplay Oscar in 2021. His new France and US-based production company Blue Morning Pictures was launched last week, alongside former CAA agent Federica Sainte-Rose as co-founder and with the backing of independent European studio Mediawan.
The announcement coincides with the six-year anniversary of Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy which took place on September 15, 2008 at the height of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Sainte-Rose, Mieli, Procacci and Italian producer Lorenzo de Maio will be executive producers on the series, with The Apartment and Fandango execs Mieli and Procacci reteaming after their successful collaboration on Italian drama series My Brilliant Friend, based on the Elena Ferrante novels. De Maio runs Fremantle-backed De Maio Entertainment which was founded in 2021.
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