Netflix's Ambitious Italian Period Drama 'The Leopard' Will Arrive in 2025

While Netflix is rightly known for its popular British period dramas like Bridgerton and The Crown, the streamer is rapidly building up its slate of international dramas. (And, no, we're not just talking about Squid Game.) Historical series like the German The Empress and the Italian The Law According to Lidia Poet have become surprisingly popular, crossing over into mainstream audiences' watchlists and the larger pop culture conversation. So it's probably not that surprising that Netflix is fully leaning into this trend, and aiming to launch one of its splashiest period series yet in 2025.

The Leopard is a sweeping, six-part series adaptation of  Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's classic Il Gattopardo, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest Italian novels of all time. The book, set in his native Sicily during the unification of Italy in the late nineteenth century, was an international bestseller, and has been translated into over forty languages. And while most American viewers may not be familiar with this author or his work, if the sprawling teaser trailer is anything to go by, a lot of us are going to want to get up to speed real quick.

The story centers on nobleman Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, as he realizes his family's aristocratic way of life is threatened by revolution and the move towards Italian unification. Forced to break with tradition to secure his family's influence, he must arrange a marriage between his nephew Tancredi and the wealthy middle-class daughter of an influential Sicilian citizen, all while knowing his decision will break the heart of his favorite child Concetta. The book wrestles with many complicated themes, including the inevitable tension between life, mortality, decay, eternity, and legacy.