The BBC has picked up period miniseries The Name of the Rose starring John Turturro, Rupert Everett and Michael Emerson, which will go out in North America on Sundance TV.
TM International, the world sales division of German mini-major Tele-Munchen Group, closed multiple territories for the eight-part miniseries, an adaptation of Umberto Eco’s best-selling medieval crime thriller.
German pay-TV outfit Sky Deutschland, part of Comcast’s Sky, OCS in France and SBS in Australia, along with European public channels VRT (Belgium), RTP (Portugal), YLE (Finland), NRK (Norway) and DRtv (Denmark) are among the networks that have taken regional rights for the series.
In Italy, public broadcaster Rai will air the series. Rai Fiction co-produced the $30 million The Name of the Rose series together with Tele-Munchen Group, 11 Marzo Film and Palomar.
Damian Hardung, Sebastian Koch, James Cosmo, Richard Sammel, Fabrizio Bentivoglio and Greta Scarano co-star in the miniseries, which is set in Italy in 1327. Turturro plays the Franciscan monk William of Baskerville who, together with his novice Adso von Melk (Hardung) investigates a series of mysterious murders at a secluded monastery in the Alps. As they search for the killer, they are hunted themselves by the religious inquisitor Bernard Gui (Everett), who prosecutes any who criticize the pope.
Giacomo Battiato directed the series and co-wrote the screenplay together with Andrea Porporati, Nigel Williams and Turturro.
Umberto Eco’s novel was turned into a hit film in 1986 starring Sean Connery as William of Baskerville and Christian Slater as Adso von Melk.
