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The young adult, Naples-set prison drama Mare Fuori (internationally known as The Sea Beyond) presented the international premiere of its third instalment during a presentation at Cannes’ MipTV 2023. Along with the screening of the latest season, the conference held by international distributor Beta Film also provided some data to the audience, supporting the outstanding success the series has had in Italy.

The third instalment of Mare Fuori debuted on the Italian avod platform RaiPlay on February 1st, 2023. Including the previous two seasons, it was declared the most-watched series ever on the streaming platform, with over 220 million total views. The last six episodes of the third season were released on February 13th, and in just 24 hours the series was watched by approximately 12 million users, with a total of 5.7 million hours viewed in that time frame – this result marked February 13th as the new record day for digital content fruition in Italy, with Rai accounting for 83% of the total time spent on a streaming platform, according to the Italian audience data collector Auditel.

The young adult drama has also been available to stream on Netflix since June 2022, and in Italy it stayed on the platform’s Top Ten List for more than 30 weeks, becoming by far the most-watched show since its release in that country.

The TV series has also shown its potential on linear TV: broadcast on Rai 2 in primetime, Mare Fuori has succeeded to double the network’s average ratings for that timeslot.

Mare Fuori revolves around Carmine Di Salvo and Filippo Ferrari, who are arrested on the same day in Naples but have nothing in common. The two teenagers are locked up in the same youth detention centre, along with many more young inmates whose stories are particularly difficult. Youth penitentiary director Paola Vinci, commander of the penitentiary police Massimo Esposito, educator Beppe Romano and various other guards try (each in their own way) to help the teenagers understand that it is always possible to radically change direction and live honestly.

Produced by Rai Fiction and Picomedia (Asacha Group), Mare Fuori has become a pop culture phenomenon in Italy, so much so that the fourth season is already underway, with Picomedia and Rai Fiction in talks for its fifth and sixth instalments. Internationally, the series has already been sold in 40 countries worldwide, among which there are the Nordics, Germany, Israel, Turkey, and Latin America. Beta Film is responsible for the series’ international rights, and is currently in talks with a yet-unknown U.S. channel to produce an American adaptation, while local remakes are already planned in France and Spain.