Netflix picks up Dustin Hoffman’s “Medici: Masters of Florence”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Netflix is mad for the Medici. The streaming giant has picked up new Italian-set drama Medici: Masters of Florence for multiple international territories following its successful bow in Italy, The Hollywood Reporter reveals.

Netflix will carry Medici in the UK, Ireland, Canada and India, with the series to premiere Dec. 9, the day it also goes out domestically in the U.S.

The eight-part drama, shot in English, stars Dustin Hoffman and Game of Thrones actor Richard Madden as members of the Medici family, the Italian bankers who turned a small family business into a financial empire and went on to fund the greatest artists of the Renaissance.

Produced by Frank Spotnitz and Nicholas Meyer, Medici premiered in Italy earlier this year, where it smashed viewing records with an average of almost 7 million viewers and a 27 percent share for the series. The show also notched major numbers online, with more than 1.6 million views on RaiPlay, the VOD platform of Italian public broadcaster RAI. Produced by Lux Vide, Big Light Productions, Wild Bunch TV and RAI Fiction, Medici has already been greenlighted for a second season.

Wild Bunch TV, which is handling worldwide sales for the series, said it had closed for more than 30 territories and expects to announce further deals in the coming weeks.