| Sandokan | |
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 Promotional poster | |
| Genre |
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| Based on | theSandokan novels byEmilio Salgari |
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| Directed by |
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| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | |
| Composer | Calibro 35 |
| Country of origin |
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| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Cinematography |
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| Running time | 51–61 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | Rai 1 |
| Release | 1 December (2025-12-01) – 16 December 2025 (2025-12-16) |
| Related | |
| Sandokan (1976) | |
Sandokan, also known asSandokan: The Pirate Prince, is a 2025 Italian television series directed by Jan Maria Michelini and Nicola Abbatangelo, based upon the novels ofEmilio Salgari featuring the pirate heroSandokan as well as their1976 television adaptation which became a classic in Italy. The first season aired onRai 1 between 1 and 16 December 2025, and is also available for streaming onDisney+,Voyo andNetflix.
Borneo, 1841. Amid theBritish colonial rule of the region, Sandokan is a pirate who sails theSouth China Sea together with his faithful friend Yanez de Gomera and the rest of his international crew. While boarding a cargo ship belonging to the Sultan ofBrunei, Sandokan frees a mysterious prisoner, who believes him to be the prophesied warrior who will free his people from foreign oppression. On the island ofLabuan, home of the British consulate, he meets the daughter of the consul, Marianne Guillonk, known as the "Pearl of Labuan" for her beauty and indomitable nature whereby she rejects all of her rich suitors. Their encounter awakens in her a sense of adventure that she is unable to express within the strictVictorian societal norms and brings her closer to Sandokan, with whom she shares an endless struggle for freedom. However, between the two comes LordJames Brooke, a charming pirate hunter and adventurer at the helm of theRoyalist frigate, who is ready to do anything to capture Sandokan and win Marianne's heart. At the heart of the Bornean jungle, everyone will finally face a choice: Marianne will have to overcome her doubts and insecurities and choose between Brooke and Sandokan; Brooke's ambitions will clash with his vulnerabilities; and Sandokan, a simple pirate living day by day, will discover his true identity and become the "Tiger of Malaysia".[1]
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Length | Original release date | Italy viewers (millions) | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Tiger of Malaysia" (Italian:La Tigre della Malesia) | Jan Maria Michelini | Alessandro Sermoneta | 58 min | 1 December 2025 (2025-12-01) | 6.233 | [2][3][4] | |
Sandokan and his pirate crew board a ship and freeDayak prisoner Lamai, who is persuaded that his liberator is the destined warrior foretold in an ancient prophecy. After landing in Labuan, where he hides behind the false identity of "Ismail", Sandokan finds himself clashing with pirate hunter James Brooke during a tiger hunt, and meets Marianne Guillonk, the daughter of the widowered English consul. | ||||||||
| 2 | "The Pearl of Labuan" (Italian:La Perla di Labuan) | Jan Maria Michelini | Alessandro Sermoneta, Claudio F. Benedetti | 51 min | 1 December 2025 (2025-12-01) | 5.211 | [2][3][4] | |
The Guillonks host a ball to celebrate Marianne's 21st birthday. Both Brooke and Sandokan are invited, and tension arises during the party, fuelled by the arrival of the Sultan of Brunei. Marianne's servant, Sani, is from the subjugated Dayak people and confronts Sandokan over the prophecy. However, he is in Labuan to free his friend Yanez and the rest of the crew, who have been imprisoned by the British. Whilst liberating them, Sandokan is forced to kidnap Marianne and Sani, who were wandering near the dungeons. | ||||||||
| 3 | "Hostage" (Italian:In ostaggio) | Jan Maria Michelini | Federico Gnesini, Valentina Strada | 59 min | 8 December 2025 (2025-12-08) | 4.615 | [2][5][6] | |
The pirates set sail with the goal of looting the Sultan'santimony mines, where the enslaved Dayak labour, but Brooke and Sergeant Murray chase him in order to rescue Marianne. As the young lady begins to grasp the extent of the atrocities committed by the British colonial forces, Sani manages to have a brief encounter with her enslaved brother Afan, from whom she had been forcefully separated in her childhood. | ||||||||
| 4 | "Singapore" | Nicola Abbatangelo | Federico Gnesini, Valentina Strada | 57 min | 8 December 2025 (2025-12-08) | 4.227 | [2][5][6] | |
The crew find refuge in Sandokan's native country ofSingapore, where histuberculosis-ridden mother Nur still lives. Even though Brooke and Murray are after him, Lord Guillonk agrees to pay the pirates a ransom in exchange for his daughter's freedom. During the celebrations for theLunar New Year, Marianne warms her feelings towards Sandokan, whose background story she has learned. However, when she is about to be entrusted to Brooke, the Sultan's men carry out an ambush and the pirates rush to escape, taking the ransom and hostages with them; Nur reveals she is not Sandokan's biological mother, shortly before dying from the wounds sustained in the ambush. | ||||||||
| 5 | "The Heart of the Jungle" (Italian:Il cuore della giungla) | Nicola Abbatangelo | Giacomo Bisanti | 55 min | 15 December 2025 (2025-12-15) | 4.602 | [2][7][8] | |
Brooke starts working to thwart the Sultan's plan, which is to conquer Lord Guillonk's trust and take Brooke's place as his successor. Meanwhile, Sandokan heads to find his real roots in a Dayak village inSarawak. There, he is captured alongside Marianne and the crew by Lamai and Sani's tribe, who make him duel with a snake to prove he is the Dayak liberator from the prophecy, as Sani claims. As he fights the effects of the snake's venom, he has flashbacks from his childhood and remembers his parents and his real name. | ||||||||
| 6 | "In the Dark" (Italian:Nel buio) | Jan Maria Michelini | Giacomo Bisanti, Alessandro Sermoneta | 59 min | 15 December 2025 (2025-12-15) | 3.972 | [2][7][8] | |
Sandokan survives, even though he temporarily loses his sight, and is welcomed by the tribe. The following day, the Sultan's soldiers force some of Sani's relatives to lead them to the Dayak village, with Brooke and Murray stalking them, disobeying Guillonk's order to abort the rescue mission. As his crew is set to depart forJakarta, Sandokan, now in love with Marianne and at peace with his identity, decides to stay in Sarawak to free his people, but finds out Lord Guillonk is the killer of his family. Having reached the village, Brooke and his men rescue Marianne and take Sandokan as a prisoner. | ||||||||
| 7 | "Death of a Pirate" (Italian:Morte di un pirata) | Jan Maria Michelini | Alessandro Sermoneta, Claudio F. Benedetti | 61 min | 16 December 2025 (2025-12-16) | 4.235 | [2][9][10] | |
Sandokan is captured and taken to the Sultan's palace. Marianne, now back in Labuan, confronts her father over his killings and the Sultan's oppressive rule on the Dayak. She is filled with doubts about Brooke's good faith and Sandokan's destiny; diagnosed withhysteria, she is further shocked to find out the truth about her mother's death. Meanwhile, Brooke's Hindu maid Hita is outed as his mother, resulting in Marianne's family rejecting him. | ||||||||
| 8 | "The Cost of Victory" (Italian:Il prezzo della riscossa) | Jan Maria Michelini | Alessandro Sermoneta | 59 min | 16 December 2025 (2025-12-16) | 3.991 | [2][9][10] | |
Seeking to take revenge against the Sultan and the Consul, Brooke helps Marianne stage Sandokan's suicide by poisoning so he can escape his death sentence; however, he requests in exchange that she give up her love for him. Once back among the Dayak, Sandokan leads them in battle against the Sultan's forces. The crew find themselves at crossroads in their lives, too, with Yanez making peace with his past and returning to assist Sandokan. Brooke takes advantage of the Dayak rebellion to urge Guillonk into nominating himRajah of Sarawak in place of the Sultan and suppress the revolt, but finds the opposition of Sergeant Murray. Marianne's aunt, regretting her past mistakes, helps her niece flee her arranged marriage to join Sandokan. | ||||||||
Production companyLux Vide announced the series on 26 May 2022 and selectedCan Yaman to play the titular character andLuca Argentero as Yanez.[11] The miniseries was the idea of Lux Vide CEO Luca Bernabei, and its distribution arrangement outside of Italy is held withFremantle, 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 byAlessandro 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] In its development stage (before filming) in early 2026, the producers are trying to find a filming location forMompracem, and there is the possibility ofKabir Bedi, who played the titular character in the original series, making a cameo.[16]
Filming started on 22 April 2024 inFormello, nearRome, where Lux Vide opened its new studio complex. The series was also shot in other locations inLazio,Tuscany andCalabria; 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 ofLamezia Terme. Local shooting started inLe Castella,Capo Rizzuto,Crotone.[13] By early September, the cast and crew was already on location inRéunion.[17]
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 inAlbano 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 andSingapore.[18] In Tuscany,Sammezzano was used as the palace of theSultan 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 ofVibo Marina andGizzeria. Overseas, some scenes were shot on location in the French overseas department ofRéunion;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.[19]
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".[18]
In the summer of 2025, it was anticipated that in the event of a second season the series would be filmed again in Calabria.[20]
A preview was shown on 28 February 2025 during Fremantle Presents, Fremantle's upfront event at the London TV Screenings.[21][22]
On 24 June 2025, the series was presented at the Italian Global Series Festival inRiccione.[23]
The musical score for the series was assigned to and performed by Italian bandCalibro 35. For the opening theme, the group chose to cover the popular theme from the1976 series, composed byGuido and Maurizio De Angelis (aka Oliver Onions), which remained widely associated with Sandokan among Italians.[24]
The eight episodes of the series aired in Italy onRai 1 andRaiPlay over three weeks from 1 December 2025. Following the original run, the series will be streamed onDisney+, which will ease its international distribution.[25]
In Portugal, the series is airing onAXN in December. It was previewed locally at Tribeca FestivalLisbon in October, where Ed Westwick was present.[26]
Rights are held byCentral European Media Enterprises informer Yugoslav countries and is available on theVoyo service.[27][28] At the 2025 Asian Television Forum,Fremantle sold the series to Hits Now in Southeast Asia, Star Entertainment in India andLG U+ in Korea.[29]
Reception of the series in Italy has been mixed. The Italian edition ofVanity Fair did an overall positive review, but criticized the first twenty minutes of the first episode for its excessive action scenes, showing a problem of the media landscape in 2025, but later gained impulse as the characters were being presented one by one. It also called for Rai 1 to increase the amount of original action series, owing to the 34% share of the first two episodes, calling the series "a breath of fresh air" in a channel whose main fiction titles are mostly criminal series.[30] Cinema Serie TV called it "a complex test", which does not replace the 1976 series, but rather tries establishing dialogue with it, by having more creative freedom instead of being a mere recreation. Can Yaman's performance was touted as being a thing in its own right instead of replicating the original.[31]
The series received multi-million viewership figures, with an average of four million tuning in. This has been attributed to a "nostalgia effect" of the 1976 series or the presence of Can Yaman.[16]