For generations of grandparents and great-grandparents, the Empress Sissi trilogy was what The Crown is today for Netflix subscribers: super popular. With the series about the Royal Family heading into the last few seasons, there are those who bet that the new production, already in development, could become the perfect replacement for those who enjoy content about the monarchy.

At least for a while.

The Empress will only be six episodes long and won’t be too different from the romantic movies of the 1950s. The Empress of the title is Elisabeth, whose nickname was Sissi, and who became Empress of Austria in 1854 when she married (at just 16 years old) Emperor Franz Joseph. Her legendary beauty was preserved in countless portraits of the time, but her personal trajectory was marked by tragedies, betrayals, and eating disorders. Movies from the 1950s romanticized the teenager’s union with the future emperor, softened the romance she had even married, and practically gave a happy ending. Far from the truth.

Like the three feature films with Romy Schneider, the series will focus on the early years of the union between Sissi and her husband, Franz Joseph, treating the relationship as a passion that defied the protocol of the time.

German actress Devrim Lingnau will play Sissi and Philip Froissant will play Franz Joseph. In fact, there is more content being produced about the couple: Sissi, from German TVNow, and the film Corsage, with Vicky Krieps.

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