If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And if there are still eyeballs willing to give you the time of day, create a spin-off series. Which is precisely why Netflix is dropping Money Heist: Berlin almost two years after the main property — also known as La Casa de Papel — concluded with an explosive fifth and final season.
The initial expansion of creator Alex Pina’s original universe will focus on titular con man and jewel thief Andres de Fonollosa AKA Berlin (portrayed by Pedro Alonso), older brother and second-in-command to Alvaro Morte’s Sergio Marquina / Salvador “Salva” Martin AKA The Professor, before he became terminally ill. And before, well… you know…
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“This is going to be a trip throughout the golden years of the character. When he was stealing all over Europe, madly in love,” Pina, who has once again signed on as showrunner, explained of the prequel during last year’s Netflix Tudum event.
Pedro Alonso is joined by Michelle Jenner as electronic specialist Keila, Tristán Ulloa as philanthropic professor and Berlin’s confidant Damián, Joel Sánchez as “the muscle” Bruce, with Begoña Vargas as Cameron and Julio Peña as Roi.
During the press conference at which Money Heist: Berlin was unveiled, Pina and writer Esther Martínez Lobato noted: “Berlin’s character has the most sparkling personality to place it in another universe. We loved the idea of introducing a new gang around Berlin in a completely different emotional state.”
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Prior to the announcement of Berlin, Alex Pina spoke to Oprah Daily about being open to the prospect of spin-offs (yes, as in plural):
“We do have many possibilities for some spinoffs, yes, and I think that’s thanks to the strong and powerful identities of the characters. We’ve always looked for characters to have a very complex, layered design. So I think almost every character of Money Heist has a duality that we would like to see in a spin-off. We could watch any of them in other contexts.”
In other words, we could be in for plenty more Money Heist content depending on the success of this forthcoming experiment. Based on the incredible streaming numbers Korean remake Money Heist: Korea — Joint Economic Area garnered, it seems like a pretty safe bet.
While it’s unclear which specific day we should be circling in our calendars, we know the Money Heist: Berlin release date will be sometime in December 2023 — check out the brand new teaser trailer above.
