EXCLUSIVE: The first two episodes of Italian maestro Marco Bellocchio’s new series for HBO Max, Portobello, will unspool at the Venice Film Festival on Monday. We’ve got a first look at the trailer – check it out above.
The series is the first original Italian production introduced by Warner Bros Discovery for Max and will launch in 2026. It tells the story of “one of the most blatant errors of Italian justice” involving TV presenter Enzo Tortora, and is billed as a tragic tale of the fall of an innocent man.
In 1982, Tortora is at the peak of success. He hosts Portobello, which reaches 28 million viewers during primetime television, all eagerly waiting for the participant who will manage to get a word out of the program’s guest of honor: a parrot.
Per the synopsis: Tortora is the King of 1980s television; his program reflects the country and offers it comfort. During those years, the earthquake in Irpinia delivered the final blow to the fragile balance within the criminal organization Nuova Camorra Organizzata. Giovanni Pandico, a trusted subordinate of the mafia boss Raffaele Cutolo and faithful watcher of Portobello from his jail cell, decides to become an informer. While being questioned by the judges, he drops an unexpected name: Enzo Tortora. When, on 17 June 1983, the Carabinieri knock at his hotel door, Tortora believes it’s a mistake. However, it is just the beginning of an ordeal that will drag him from riches to rags.”
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The cast includes Fabrizio Gifuni as Enzo Tortora, Lino Musella, Barbora Bobulova, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Davide Mancini, Federica Fracassi, Carlotta Gamba, Giada Fortini, Massimiliano Rossi, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, Gianfranco Gallo as Raffaele Cutolo, and also features Alessandro Preziosi.
The series is produced by Our Films (a Mediawan company), and Kavac Film, together with ARTE France, Rai Fiction and The Apartment Pictures (a Fremantle group company). It’s produced by Lorenzo Mieli and Mario Gianani for Our Films, and by Simone Gattoni for Kavac Film.
The series was written by Marco Bellocchio, Stefano Bises, Giordana Mari and Peppe Fiore.