The Trailer for Netflix's 'The Leopard' Brings Italy's Risorgimento to Life
Kim Rossi Stuart and Astrid Meloni in "The Leopard"
(Photo: Netflix)
Netflix is the home of several shows that have come to dominate the pop cultural landscape in recent years (Bridgerton, Stranger Things, Wednesday). However, it’s a truth universally acknowledged that the streaming service’s international offerings — at least those not named Squid Game —are too often overlooked by the average U.S. viewer. From its lush adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude to popular historicals like The Empress or thorny crime dramas like The Breakthrough, Netflix boasts an impressive library of shows that are best screened with subtitles.
U.S. audiences might not notice them, but Netflix’s investment in international dramas isn’t about viewers at home. The real subscriber growth for the back half of the 2020s will be in the global sector, and Netflix is ready to step up to the next level with the arrival of The Leopard, a sweeping, ambitious period-set series that aims to rival English language hits like Downton Abbey and The Crown. Based on Il Gattopardo, the classic novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, the six-part series boasts thousands of extras, custom-made costumes and furnishings, and sets recreated in meticulous detail to match the period in which it takes place.
The story is set during the nineteenth-century Risorgimento (“rising again”), encompassing Italy’s long process of becoming a unified country in response to the French & Napoleonic Wars. The process took almost 60 years and included wars, diplomatic negotiations, and military uprisings against foreign powers (one of which is a central plot of The Empress!) before the “Kingdom of Italy” was established in 1861. The Leopard follows the fictional Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina, a privileged aristocrat whose family’s way of life is threatened by the growing unrest as he breaks with the expected social order to arrange a marriage between his nephew and the daughter of a wealthy middle-class Sicilian.
Here's the official synopsis.
Based on what many consider to be one of the greatest Italian novels of all time, The Leopard is a dazzlingly sensuous epic, set against the backdrop of revolution in 1860s Sicily. At its heart is Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, who leads a life surrounded by beauty and privilege. But as Italy moves towards unification and the old aristocratic order is threatened, he realizes that his family’s future is in jeopardy. New allegiances must be made, each one a threat to his principles.
Eventually Don Fabrizio is faced with an impossible choice. He has the power to engineer a marriage, between the rich and beautiful Angelica and his nephew Tancredi, that could secure his family’s legacy, but doing so he would break his favorite daughter, Concetta’s heart. The series will be a modern exploration of timeless themes – power, love, and the cost of progress.
The series stars Kim Rossi Stewart (Maltese: The Mafia Detective) as Don Fabrizio and Deva Cassel (Inside Out 2) as Angelica Sedara. (Yes, she's Vincent Cassel's daughter.) The main cast also includes Saul Nanni (Supersex) as the prince’s nephew, Tancredi Falconeri, and Benedetta Porcaroli (Thou Shalt Not Kill) as Concetta, his cousin, who is madly in love with Tancredi. Greta Esposito (Inspector Ricciardi), Paolo Calabresi (Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara), Francesco Colella (Made in Italy), and Astrid Meloni (The Swarm) are also part of the ensemble.
The Leopard was adapted by Richard Warlow (The Serpent), who co-wrote the drama alongside Benji Walters (Obsession). Tom Shankland (Les Miserables) is the lead director, with Giuseppe Capotondi (Endeavour) and Laura Luchetti (The Duchess of Malfi) helming an installment. The director of photography is Nicolaj Bruel, with costume designs by Carlo Poggioli and Edoardo Russo. Producers include Fabrizio Donvito, Daniel Campos Pavoncelli, Marco Cohen, and Benedetto Habib for Indiana Production and Will Gould, Frith Tiplady, and Matthew Read for Moonage Pictures.
The Leopard premieres on Netflix with all episodes on Wednesday, March 5, 2025.
