The eight episode-long installment is helmed by Italian director Saverio Costanzo, according to Indiewire. It follows the childhood friendship blossoming between narrator Elena (Elisa Del Genio) and the beautiful, brilliant Lila (Ludovica Nasti) as they come of age in Naples in the 1950s, as Italy reels from the effects of the Second World War. The first book stays pretty rooted in Elena and Lila’s youth, though it looks like later episodes will feature the two as teenagers, played respectively by Gaia Girace and Margherita Mazzucco. The entire series is filmed in Neapolitan dialect, with English subtitles.
My Brilliant Friend’s first episode premieres in November. It’s unclear when HBO plans to start filming for the second book, A Story of a New Name, but I’m very much looking forward to seeing who plays Number One Fuckboi Nino Sarratore. Fuck that dude.