The Amadeus television series starring Paul Bettany debuts with a solid Rotten Tomatoes score. The show is based on Peter Shaffer’s 1979 stage play, which is a fictional exploration of the rivalry between musical composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri.
F. Murray Abraham played Salieri and Tom Hulce played Mozart in the 1984 feature film adaptation, which won Best Picture. The new television show features Bettany as Salieri and Will Sharpe as Mozart.
Now, following the December 21 premiere on Sky Atlantic, Amadeus season 1 has debuted with an 82% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. The score is based on 11 reviews so far, nine of which are “Fresh.” As more reviews are added, the critical response will likely fluctuate, and there is no audience score yet.
Empire‘s review by Olly Richards praises the series for being “a funny, sumptuous, intelligent take on the play.” David Opie’s review at Digital Spy acknowledges that “the show itself isn’t perfect, especially in comparison to the award-winning behemoth that came before it” while still admiring the new adaptation for “taking some big swings.”
The limited series also stars Gabrielle Creevy as Mozart’s wife, Constanze, Jonathan Aris as Mozart’s father, Leopold, and Olivia-Mai Barrett as Constanze’s sister, Sophie. It is adapted and written by Joe Barton, who previously worked on Netflix’s popular spy thriller show Black Doves and the science-fiction series The Lazarus Project starring Paapa Essiedu.
While it has a star-studded cast, the Amadeus show has a difficult legacy to live up to considering the many achievements of the 1984 movie. Along with securing Best Picture, it had a total of eight Academy Award wins, including Miloš Forman as Best Director, Abraham as Best Actor, and Best Costume Design. Hulce also received an Academy Award nomination for his performance.
Additionally, the Amadeus movie has a higher Tomatometer and Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes, with 90% from critics and 95% from audiences. It was also a box office hit, grossing $52.2 million worldwide against a reported budget of $18 million.
For Bettany, Amadeus is not his only new or upcoming show with him in a leading role. He reprised the role of Vision for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s VisionQuest. The WandaVision spinoff has already wrapped filming, is expected to be released on Disney+ in 2026, and features James Spader returning as Ultron.
While the new Amadeus is unlikely to live up to its award-winning predecessor, the television adaptation seems to have found a relatively favorable reception so far. As a limited series, there also does not need to be any concern about whether it will get a second season.