Antonio Banderas to play crime reporter in ‘Monster of Florence’

Popular actor Antonio Banderas is all set to return to TV with his latest series "The Monster of Florence."

Antonio Banderas will play as an Italian crime reporter, Mario Spezi, in the limited series which is based on a best-selling true-crime novel, reports Hollywood Reporter.

Mario Spezi co-wrote The Monster of Florence: A True Story with American fiction writer Douglas Preston.

The book details their investigation into a notorious series of murders in Italy from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s. The two writers became part of the story when Italian prosecutors began to suspect them of being behind the killings.

"The book, and the series based on it, tell the true story of our search for — and identification of — the killer and our frightening interview with him," says Preston.

"In a bizarre turn, Mario and I were sucked into a harrowing prosecutorial vendetta, our phones tapped, followed and menaced by the police, accused of participating in Satanic rites — which culminated in Mario arrested and charged with being the Monster of Florence himself."

Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair) and Anders Thomas Jensen (Riders of Justice) will adapt The Monster of Florence as a six-part limited series for Studiocanal. Banderas and his agent, Emanuel Nunez, will act as executive producer.

The Monster of Florence is set to shoot on location in Florence, Sardinia, and Tuscany. Banderas will also star in a film opposite Penelope Cruz in the Spanish comedy Official Competition.