HBO Max launches today in Italy with several Italian originals to follow soon, the standout one being Marco Bellocchio’s limited series “Portobello” that reconstructs one of the country’s most clamorous travesties of justice.
The HBO Max streaming service is also launching today, Jan. 13, in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.
“Portobello” – to which Variety has been given exclusive trailer access – is the true story of popular Italian TV host Enzo Tortora who, among other programs, conducted a primetime game show by the same title that aired on Italian state broadcaster Rai for seven seasons starting in 1977. The six-episode show is a vivid account of how Tortora, in 1985, went from being a top-rated TV star to being wrongly convicted of conspiring with the Neapolitan crime syndicate known as Camorra.
Tortora is played by frequent Bellocchio collaborator Fabrizio Gifuni who starred as former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro in Bellocchio…