27/03/2025 - The live-action version of Jonathan Swift’s novel will be shot in English and will be a co-production with Beta Film

Uberto Pasolini will serve as a showrunner for a new TV adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels. He previously developed Hallmark’s series of the same title together with Duncan Kenworthy (The Henson Company), which received five Primetime Emmy Awards. Pasolini’s latest feature, The Return [+see also:
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film profile], starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, premiered at Toronto last year, and his two previous films, Nowhere Special [+see also:
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interview: Uberto Pasolini
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Italy’s Picomedia and Germany’s Intaglio Films will be in charge of production duties, with Beta Film serving as co-producer. World sales will be handled jointly by Beta Film and ZDF Studios. The six-hour, English-language fantasy series will follow the adventures of Jonathan Swift’s hero Lemuel Gulliver. His thirst for knowledge will lead him to leave his family in order to embark on a year-long quest, where he will strive to understand what he is really looking for. On his turbulent journey, he’ll find himself travelling through different fantastical and unknown places, and facing unexpected situations. The series will be penned by screenwriter William Ivory, whose latest effort, The Great Escaper [+see also:
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Pasolini commented on his new role: “Having developed the Primetime Emmy Award-winning Hallmark series Gulliver’s Travels together with Duncan Kenworthy, I’m ready to re-enter Swift’s fascinating world. With this adaptation, we want to create a wonderful and fun TV adventure and, at the same time, talk about the world around us: politics, greed, consumerism, and the relationship between humans and nature. Swift explored these themes and more in his original work, and we want to re-explore them while keeping the amazing, wonderful and unusual visual setting of the 18th century. Swift’s incredible imagination makes it feel natural to me to stick to his world; the entire story is about journeying beyond familiar places, far from Gulliver’s usual reality. We want to go crazy in the same way that Gulliver goes crazy on his journey, and how Swift went crazy with him. It will be interesting, fascinating, entertaining and unusual – nothing will be predictable.”

“I’m happy to bring together Uberto’s talent, and the global expertise of Beta Film and Intaglio Films. This project has strong potential for European broadcasting partners, as well as partners across the Atlantic, given the IP that is known worldwide. I am looking forward to exciting months ahead,” added Roberto Sessa, producer at and CEO of Picomedia.

Jan Wünschmann, producer and co-MD, Intaglio Films, a joint venture between Beta Film and ZDF Studios, described Gulliver’s Travels as “an outstanding European project with great international potential, which offers top-tier family entertainment with global appeal”.

Ferdinand Dohna, head of Content and Co-production, Beta Film, also shared his view: “The German translation of Gulliver’s Travels is prefaced with a quote by Hermann Hesse, which I think still holds true: ‘Everybody knows the novel, but nobody knows the original.’ That is exactly what we want to change. Swift’s original Gulliver’s Travels is a subversive, universal period fantasy that speaks to young and old; it knows no generations. It is a perfect template for an entertaining international co-production. With Uberto Pasolini and Roberto Sessa, we have a long-lasting, trustful collaboration that we are proud of. And with Intaglio Films on board, I’m confident that both industry and audiences alike can look forward to a beautiful, unique and entertaining high-end adaptation.”