Netflix Announced "Medici: Masters of Florence" for US, UK, Canada and India

Wednesday 23 November 2016. LOS ANGELES - Acclaimed original English-language drama series Medici: Masters of Florence has been acquired by Netflix, the world's leading Internet TV network. The series will premiere as a Netflix original in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada and India starting 9 December.

Medici: Masters of Florence, created by award-winning writer and executive producer Frank Spotnitz (The Man in the High Castle, The X-Files) and Nicholas Meyer (The Seven Per-Cent Solution, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), broke Italian viewing records this month with an overall average of 27.34% share on TV and almost seven million viewers for the series.

The 8 x 60-minute drama series stars Richard Madden (Game of Thrones, Cinderella) and twice Oscar(R) winner and four times BAFTA winner Dustin Hoffman with credits such as Rain Man, Tootsie and Kramer vs Kramer, as members of the legendary Medici family, who turned a modest family business into a banking empire and went on to fund the Renaissance.

The show received the highest ratings for young audiences with girls aged 15-24 registering at 30.1%. The first two episodes debuted with an overall average of 29.4% share and registered 8.3 million viewers. It secured more than 750,000 interactions on Facebook and Twitter making it the most Tweeted series of 2016 in Italy. It was also noted as being one of the most commented-on shows ever on the broadcaster's social media platforms. It also garnered 1.6 million views and 470k unique viewers on the RAI OTT platform "RaiPlay."

"I am delighted that millions of viewers will be able to see Medici: Masters of Florence as a Netflix Original Series," said Big Light Chief Executive Frank Spotnitz, the show's co-creator and executive producer. "I was thrilled by the incredible response we got from our Italian audience, and I can't wait to see how viewers around the world respond."

Lux Vide President Matilde Bernabei and CEO Luca Bernabei added: "Netflix involvement is further proof of the high quality of our show and the world's attention to the Italian market. The quality of the Medici series has attracted a new audience to RAI, adding younger viewers to the usual fans of our nationally produced series. We think the keys to the series' success is down to the brilliant writing of Frank Spotnitz and Nicholas Meyer, its sensational actors including Richard Madden's outstanding performance combined with the beauty of the settings, the Italian styling of the costumes, cinematography and music."

Carole Baraton, on behalf of Wild Bunch TV, handling worldwide distribution of the series, confirmed that "Wild Bunch TV is thrilled to be the one bringingMedici: Masters of Florence to an international audience. The series is already a commercial success with more than 30 territories sold, and more to be announced in weeks ahead."

Produced by Lux Vide, Big Light Productions, Wild Bunch TV and RAI Fiction, Medici: Masters of Florence has been greenlit for Season 2 as previously announced.