Antonio Banderas to investigate Italian serial killer case for new series

Antonio Banderas is playing an Italian crime reporter investigating the murders of a real-life serial killer in his latest TV role.

The Oscar winner will star in the six-hour limited series The Monster of Florence, which will chronicle the work of American fiction writer Douglas Preston and journalist Mario Spezi, who examined the police investigation into the deaths of 14 people between 1974 and 1985, and uncovered procedural mistakes.

At one point, Spezi himself was considered a suspect in the slayings, which targeted young couples enjoying romantic outings in the countryside.

The story will be adapted from Preston and Spezi's own 2006 book on the case, The Monster Of Florence: A True Story.

A Royal Affair director Nikolaj Arcel will take charge of the Studiocanal project from a script he developed with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo co-writer Anders Thomas Jensen, according to Variety.

Banderas will serve as an executive producer on the show, his first TV gig since portraying artist Pablo Picasso in 2018's Genius.