Where it was filmed 'The Bad Guy'

The Bad Guy is a crime series with elements of dark comedy, set in Sicily, in particular in Palermo, where Nino Scotellaro (Luigi Lo Cascio) works as a magistrate. Uncaring of the forms and methods of action when it comes to fighting the mafia, Nino’s main objective is to bring the elusive fugitive boss, Mariano Suro (Antonio Catania) to justice. The man commissioned the murder of Paolo Bray, magistrate and father to Scotellaro’s wife Luvi Bray (Claudia Pandolfi), also a brilliant lawyer.

Nino is suddenly accused of being a part of the organization hiding Suro and is arrested while watching a presentation of a film about Paolo Bray, The Good Magistrate, at the teatro Politeama Garibaldi in Palermo.

Palermo is the main setting and location, seen several times from above, from piazza Giulio Cesare, beyond the monumental entrance of via Roma: with mount Pellegrino in the background. The transfer of the mafioso Cataldo Palamita (Fabrizio Ferracane), arrested by Leonarda, Nino’s sister (Selene Caramazza), offers the opportunity to admire an external glimpse of the Cathedral of Maria Santissima Assunta: the van stops suddenly a little while later in piazza Vittorio Veneto, outside Nicolò Turrisi School, in the Capo neighbourhood. Palermo is also present with its shoreline, which Luvi rides down on an electric scooter, heading for the emergency room, when she receives a call from her business partner reminding her of a hearing. In front of her is the harbour, mount Pellegrino looming above, apparently protective of the city.

The series imagines that a bridge has been built over the Straits of Messina (created digitally), but this crumbles 5 years after Nino’s arrest, just as the police van with him with other prisoners on board is driving across it. His body is never found, because he miraculously survives and is able to put an ingenious revenge plan into action.

Everyone believes him dead, Nino takes refuge in an isolated house in the hamlet of Cupoli (Abruzzo) whose exteriors are casale delle Pietrische, an Etruscan site in Manziana, where the mafioso Salvatore Tracina (Vincenzo Pirrotta) lives in witness protection. The location where Nino gets off the bus is piazza Dante Alighieri in Guadagnolo, a hamlet of Capranica Prenestina (Rome).

The iconic western scene where Nino returns to Sicily with the identity of Balduccio Remora, a distant cousin of the Tracina clan, is set in Parco Cerriolo in Custonaci (Trapani). The opportunity is presented by the christening of Mariano Tracina, grandson of both Salvatore and Mariano Sura which is being held at Villa Boscogrande, a noble 18^th century residence in Palermo. The ceremony takes place at the Sanctuary of Maria Santissima in Custonaci; afterwards, a line of cars travels down via Alessandro Volta outside the church.

Marsala also provided locations. Nino, now known by all as Balduccio Remora, is in a car with Teresa Suro (Giulia Maenza): it drives through porta Garibaldi into piazza dell’Addolorata, dominated by the Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Addolorata, before going into Farmacia Giammarinaro on the corner of via Garibaldi.

“Wowter World” a squalid and surreal fun-park that actually produces death serves as the headquarters of the Tracina clan, created by filming in Parco acquatico Atlantica and the Camping Village of Cesenatico.

The interiors were mostly built in Cinecittà Studios, but several prison and tribunal scenes were shot in the Carcerette and Tribunale in Civitavecchia.

The Bad Guy – Season 2

The Bad Guy, series produced by Indigo Film for Prime Video, stars Luigi Lo Cascio as Nino Scotellaro, a Sicilian prosecutor who is accused of being part of the mafia system he has spent his life fighting, sparking a plan of ruthless revenge.

Directed by Giuseppe G. Stasi and Giancarlo Fontana, created by Ludovica Rampoldi, Davide Serino and Giuseppe G. Stasi, and written by Fortunata Apicella, Giacomo Bendotti, Giordana Mari, Ludovica Rampoldi, Davide Serino and Giuseppe G. Stasi, Season 2 of The Bad Guy returns to bridge past and future, the ghosts of regrets and remorse and the desire for a new, unattainable life, in a story that combines crime with dark comedy.

The cast also includes Claudia Pandolfi (as lawyer Luvi Bray, wife of Scotellaro and daughter of Paolo Bray, murdered by the mafia), Selene Caramazza, Giulia Maenza and Antonio Catania. A new face in Season 2 is Stefano Accorsi.

Filming took place in autumn 2023 in Sicily, Emilia-Romagna and Lazio. The main location for the new episodes of The Bad Guy is again Sicily, in particular Palermo, where filming began in October 2023. Locations also in Rome and Lazio: Genzano di Roma (in front of Palazzo Sforza Cesarini) and the coast, the seaside resort of Fregene and Isola Sacra in the municipality of Fiumicino.

Returning in Season 2 is “Wowter World”, headquarters of the Tracina clan, a squalid and surreal “amusement park” where death is manufactured. The park was created by filming at Atlantica water park and the Camping Village in Cesenatico.