Money Heist
Spanish heist series about two elaborate robberies.
Money Heist (Spanish: La casa de papel) is a Spanish heist crime drama television series created by Álex Pina. The series follows two long-prepared heists led by the Professor, one on the Royal Mint of Spain and one on the Bank of Spain, narrated by the robber Tokyo. It became a global phenomenon after Netflix acquired streaming rights, noted for its complex narrative and widespread popularity.
- creator
- Álex Pina
- original network
- Antena 3
- first aired
- 2 May 2017
- finale
- 3 December 2021
- genre
- Heist crime drama
- language
- Spanish
- number of episodes
- 41 (original and Netflix re-cut versions)
Lore & Background
The series was conceived by Álex Pina and director Jesús Colmenar after they left Globomedia to form Vancouver Media in 2016. Initially titled Los Desahuciados, it was developed as a limited series to subvert heist conventions. The narrative uses an unreliable narrator, flashbacks, and time-jumps. Tokyo was chosen as the narrator after other characters proved unworkable. The pilot required over 50 script versions.
Reader's Guide
Money Heist originally aired as a 15-episode limited series on Antena 3 from May to November 2017. Netflix re-cut it into 22 episodes and released it globally starting December 2017. Renewed with a larger budget, Parts 3 and 4 each had eight episodes, released in 2019 and 2020. The fifth and final part was split into two five-episode volumes in September and December 2021. A South Korean remake and a spin-off, Berlin, were released in 2022 and 2023, forming a shared universe. The series won the International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series and became the most-watched non-English-language series on Netflix. The song 'Bella ciao' became a European summer hit in 2018.
Did You Know?
- The series was initially intended as a two-part limited series.
- Netflix re-cut the original 15 episodes into 22 shorter episodes.
- A documentary titled Money Heist: The Phenomenon premiered on the same day as Part 4.
- The Italian anti-fascist song 'Bella ciao' became a summer hit across Europe in 2018.
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