Bille August Series ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ Starring ‘Peaky Blinders’ Actor Sam Claflin Draws Top Ratings in Italy

Bille August-directed TV series “The Count of Monte Cristo,” featuring an international cast led by Sam Claflin (“Peaky Blinders”) is reaping stellar ratings in Italy, scoring on average a whopping 26% primetime share on the country’s state broadcaster RAI.

The first episode of August’s high-end adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas classic, which the two-time Palme d’Or winning director of “Pelle the Conqueror” and “Smilla’s Sense Of Snow” shot in Paris, Torino, Rome and Malta, drew more than 5 million viewers Monday on RAI’s RAI-1 flagship station, reaching peaks of more than 32% of the country’s total TV audience and marking RAI’s best ratings for a TV series in nearly a year.

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Claflin stars as young sailor Edmond Dantes who is falsely accused of treason and is imprisoned without trial in the Château d’If, a grim island fortress off Marseille before escaping to seek revenge. Irons plays Abbé Faria who becomes his mentor behind bars. The cast of August’s “Monte Cristo” also comprises Ana Girardot; Mikkel Boe Følsgaard; Blake Ritson; Karla-Simone Spence; Michele Riondino; Lino Guanciale; Gabriella Pession and Nicolas Maupas.

The high-end English-language show is produced by Palomar, which is owned by French powerhouse Mediawan, and DEMD Productions for France Télévisions and RAI, and distributed by Mediawan Rights.

“Together with RAI we made a gamble that I can now say has been successful,” said Palomar chief Carlo Degli Esposti in a statement. 

“Once again, the audience rewarded great storytelling and our attempt to bring classic literature to TV in an elegant ensemble piece congenial for the general public,” he added.

Degli Esposti went on to underline that the August-directed “Monte Cristo” is “a truly international series led by an Italian producer featuring a great Danish director; writing that is first and foremost respectful of Dumas’ great book; and a truly high-level cast.”

The nearly 200-year-old Dumas book is clearly a great piece of IP. A recent nearly three-hour movie version directed by France’s Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte, starring Pierre Niney in the title role and produced by Dimitri Rassam’s Mediawan-owned banner Chapter 2, struck box office gold in France where it grossed nearly 10 million admissions and took the second slot at the local box office. It ranks as France’s biggest film export in 2024.

“The Count of Monte Cristo” directed by August marks the first series entirely produced within Mediawan and represented by its distribution arm Mediawan Rights.