🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊“British director Joe Wright, who helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour” – which earned Gary Oldman an Oscar for his portrayal as the British prime minister – is set to change historical sides and direct TV drama “M,” which chronicles Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. The high-end series, which is based on Antonio Scurati’s Premio Strega-winning and international bestselling novel “M. Son of the Century,” traces the birth of Fascism in Italy and Mussolini’s ascent with an innovative approach that has sparked debate about the Fascist dictator’s legacy in Italy and abroad.” “The writer understood and put on paper, with facts and documents and everything, that Mussolini is the guy – him and only him – who created what we now know as populism and Fascism,” said the show’s producer Lorenzo Mieli, speaking in Venice, where he is among producers of Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All.” The previously announced eight-part series – which will soon start shooting at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios. “Fascism is something that today is relevant for everyone. It’s been relevant for the past decades, but it’s especially relevant now all over the world,” Mieli said. “And it’s interesting because before Trump the U.S. and Anglo-Saxon culture thought Fascism was something that was not on their radar. But now it is,” he added. “That’s why I thought of an Anglo-Saxon director [for ‘M’].” He said Wright “fell in love with the material” and is “working in Rome now, dealing with one of the worst and most iconic characters in our history.” The series is adapted for the screen and written by Stefano Bises – a screenwriter who’s had experience penning gritty, political, and religious stories like the acclaimed series' Gomorrah, The New Pope, and The Miracle. Davide Serino (1992, The Comedians) also collaborates with the scripts. The cast is being kept under wraps, though Mieli says Mussolini will be played by an A-list talent.