HBO Max and Studiocanal have joined a growing list of international buyers for Gomorrah – The Origins, a six-episode prequel that rewinds the franchise to Naples in 1977 and tracks the early criminal education of a young Pietro Savastano. The deals extend the reach of one of Italy’s biggest TV exports at a moment when streamers and pay-TV groups keep hunting for recognizable global crime brands that travel.
Beta Film, which is handling sales, has licensed HBO Max rights across German-speaking Europe and Turkey, and has sold the show in France to Studiocanal, where it is expected to land on a Canal+ platform. Additional pickups include SBS in Australia, ORF in Austria, TET in Latvia, and Nova in Greece, with more territories in play as the roll-out widens. In Germany, the HBO Max package also covers the original Gomorrah series and the feature film The Immortal, giving the streamer a ready-made franchise shelf rather than a single title.
Sky has positioned the prequel as a return to the street-level mechanics that powered the original run: cigarette smuggling, shifting neighborhood power, and a city on the cusp of the heroin era. The cast centers on Luca Lubrano as the young Pietro, with Francesco Pellegrino as local boss Angelo “A Sirena,” Flavio Furno as “O Paisano,” Tullia Venezia as Imma, and Fabiola Balestriere as a young Annalisa Magliocca. Marco D’Amore directed the first four episodes and serves as co-writer and artistic supervisor, with Francesco Ghiaccio directing the final two.
The project also underscores how the Saviano-based universe keeps generating new product years after the flagship series ended, with distributors leaning on brand recognition to cut through a crowded scripted market. Sky and Beta Film have framed The Origins as a fresh entry point for new viewers while giving long-time fans a direct line to characters whose rise defined the earlier saga.
