Development and casting
Production company Lux Vide announced the series on 26 May 2022 and selected Can Yaman to play the titular character and Luca Argentero as Yanez. [11] The miniseries was the idea of Lux Vide CEO Luca Bernabei, and its distribution arrangement outside of Italy is held with Fremantle, its parent company. In Spain, Mediaset España holds the rights instead. [12]
On 18 April 2024, Variety reported that several big name actors (Ed Westwick, John Hannah, Alanah Bloor) had joined Can Yaman as part of the pool of actors in the new miniseries. [12] Argentero was replaced by Alessandro Preziosi in the role of Yanez. [13]
Following the successful broadcast of the first two episodes on 1 December 2025, it was announced that a second season was set to be produced and released by 2027, featuring the same main cast plus additional characters, and would be filmed starting in May 2026. [14] [15]
Filming
Filming started on 22 April 2024 in Formello, near Rome, where Lux Vide opened its new studio complex. The series was also shot in other locations in Lazio, Tuscany and Calabria; the latter region was where Labuan was recreated, using funds from the Calabria Film Commission. [12] Filming in Calabria started on 27 May, following the building of an industrial backlot in the city of Lamezia Terme. Local shooting started in Le Castella, Capo Rizzuto, Crotone. [13] By early September, the cast and crew was already on location in Réunion. [16]
The Formello studios, where the initial scenes were shot, had three ships built on purpose for the series, including a 360-degree LED infrastructure to simulate oceans or weather conditions such as storms. Several cave scenes were shot at underground Roman cisterns in Albano Laziale. Most of the jungle scenes were recreated in Parco Laghi dei Reali and Chia Falls. It was also used for most of the indoor locations, such as the consulate of Labuan, the prisons and Singapore. [17] In Tuscany, Sammezzano was used as the palace of the Sultan of Brunei. The Lamezia Terme backlot was used for most scenes set in Labuan. A panoramic pier was built in Le Castella, while action and persecution scenes were shot in Tropea and Capo Vaticano. Some elements of the sets were mixed with the natural environment of Vibo Marina and Gizzeria. Overseas, some scenes were shot on location in the French overseas department of Réunion; Thailand was used mostly to produce visual elements. Using LED panels, elements of the ocean and sunsets around Thailand were later dispatched to the Italian studios. [18]
The Calabria Film Commission injected €800,000 into its production, but there are fewer scenes compared to those shot in Sammezzano and in Lazio, according to Domani, a local newspaper. This was seen with criticism from locals, even though the original plans were to "show Calabria to the world". [17]
In the summer of 2025, it was anticipated that in the event of a second season the series would be filmed again in Calabria. [19]
