Nellie Andreeva

ABC has put in development Anti-Mafia Squad, a drama based on the 2009 Italian series Squadra Antimafia – Palermo Oggi. David Hollander (The Cleaner) will write the script and executive produce with the original series’ distributor Mediaset, Little Engine’s Gina Matthews and Grant Scharbo and Fluent Media’s Raul Mateu. ABC Studios is producing. The original series, which wrapped its third season in June, is set in today’s Palermo, caught in a war between mafia families for the leadership of Cosa Nostra after the arrest of the last godfather. It centers on two women: deputy chief of police Claudia Mares, who joins a special anti-mafia squad, and young Rosy Abate, a member of one of the oldest criminal clans, who returns to Palermo after a long stay in the U.S. ABC, ABC Studios, Matthews, Scharbo, Mateu and Mediaset originally tried to adapt the ICM-repped format last season, but the project had no writer and was rolled over to this season when CAA-repped Hollander was tapped for the job. I’m not familiar with Squadra Antimafia, but if there is something the Italians know how to do well it is mafia drama series/miniseries. If you haven’t seen the 1980s series La Piovra (The Octopus), I’d highly recommend it. Here is a trailer (in Italian) I found for the second season of Squarda Antimafia:

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