Variety is reporting that John Turturro, Rupert Everett and young actor Damian Hardung (The Red Band Society) have been cast in a new TV adaptation of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, which is being directed by Giacomo Battiato (L’infiltre).
The film will see Turturro taking on the role of William of Baskerville, the 14th century Franciscan monk who investigates a series of grisly murders. Everett will play the main antagonist, Inquisitor Bernard Gui, while Hardung is portraying William of Baskerville’s apprentice sleuth Adso of Melk.
The eight-episode series is being produced by Matteo Levi and Carlo Degli Esposti, and is slated to begin production in January in Rome. Eco’s 1980 bestseller was previously adapted for the big screen in 1986, with Jean-Jacques Annaud directing Sean Connery as William of Baskerville and Christian Slater as Adso.
