Here’s a first look at Hagen (working title), the German-Czech fantasy drama epic, which now counts Fremantle as its worldwide distributor. Based on Wolfgang Hohlbein’s bestselling novel ‘Hagen von Tronje’, the series is a reimagining of the medieval Nibelungen folk saga, which is widely considered as an inspiration behind modern fantasy franchises such as George R.R.
Distribution
British TV shows fetched a record £1.85B ($2.25B) in 2022-23, new stats reveal. Sales to streamers boomed and finished tape deals came back into fashion to help exports grow 22% year-on-year, Pact‘s UK TV Exports Report revealed. Demand for shows such as The Ipcress Files, Frozen Planet II and This England built even as the
Deadline has compiled a list of the highest-grossing movies at the North American box office for each since 1989, including the most recent winner, 2023’s Barbie. With a few noted exceptions, the list is dominated by superheroes, Star Wars, animation and, of course, Harry Potter. Click on the photo above to launch the photo gallery
Lionsgate Motion Picture Group executive Helen Lee-Kim has inked a new long-term deal as President, International. The news comes before Lionsgate takes over the world this holiday season with the highly anticipated prequel, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes on Nov. 17, which was cleared for a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement; one of
On a brief break from filming season 4 of The Chosen, creator Dallas Jenkins agreed to a Zoom call with Deadline to discuss his new berth on The CW and the success of his series about the life of Jesus. He’s dressed the part: Jenkins is wearing a T-shirt that reads My Rabbi Walks on
EXCLUSIVE: Ahead of its world premiere tonight, the Zorro TV series adaptation has landed a trio of European deals, as Mediawan Rights leans further into big-ticket IP. M6 Groupe in France, Mediaset in Italy, DPG Media’s TVM channels in Flemish-speaking Belgium and RTL Klub in Hungary have acquired the series, which is a Secuoya Studios
EXCLUSIVE: Atlas Literary, part of Oppenheimer producer Atlas Entertainment is headed to Mipcom Cannes next month to launch a docuseries about ordinary people living through extraordinary circumstances. Atlas is debuting Seen & Heard alongside global sustainable development consulting firm Chemonics International. Each planned season will spotlight overlooked narratives from people around the world, with season one
EXCLUSIVE: BET+ has boarded buzzy upcoming UK couples series In Love & Toxic: Blue Therapy. The deal gives the Black culture streamer U.S. rights to the show, which debuts on E4 in the UK on October 5 and comes from Luti Media and Trend Cntrl. Distributor All3Media International has also struck a continent-wide deal with
EXCLUSIVE: Fauda and Your Honor firm Yes Studios is heading to Mipcom to launch a thought-provoking factual series going behind the scenes of helpline call centers. Single-cam doc Lifeline follows the highly trained volunteers at Israel’s ERAN Association (Emotional First Aid), who receive calls from people in desperate situations. In some cases, actors (used to
EXCLUSIVE: A documentary about the relationships between Frank Sinatra, JFK and the mafia has been snapped up by Channel 4. The UK commercial broadcaster has pre-bought Sinatra, Kennedy and the Mob from Leaving Neverland seller Abacus Media Rights’, with more sales understood to be in the offing. Produced by Peninsula Television in Ireland, the doc
EXCLUSIVE: With Mipcom on the horizon, Sweden’s Eccho Rights is building out its sales team by hiring well-respected exec Tess Charman. The Stockholm-based distributor has named former Warner Bros International Television Production, eOne, MGM and Avalon exec Charman as its Director of Sales for Continental Europe. Starting on September 1, Charman will take on European
Editor’s note: Dade Hayes and Jonathan Bing are co-authors of Open Wide: How Hollywood Box-Office Became a National Obsession. Hayes is Deadline’s Business Editor and Bing is Chief Communications Officer at Vice Media Group. The more things change, the more the Hollywood studios stay the same. At least that’s one of the surprising lessons of
D. Barry Reardon, former longtime Warner Bros. President of Sales and Distribution, has died at 92. The exec known as “The Dean of Distribution” among industry peers and filmmakers passed May 27 in Vero Beach, FL. Reardon was the head of theatrical distribution at Warner Bros from 1978-99, and was known for breaking the mold
BBC Studios has struck an investment and distribution deal with Bonafide Films, the producer of buzzy BBC breakout drama Mood and Peter Moffatt’s The Last Post. The deal will see BBC Studios invest in the London-based producer’s development slate and take first look on projects for distribution. Bonafide previously had a first–look deal with Lionsgate,
The head of the VC firm that invested several hundred million dollars in A24 a year ago says the indie producer-distributor’s “extraordinary” momentum could lead to a large international business and potential acquisitions. As is their wont, A24 executives are not talking publicly, but Stripes partner Ken Fox did speak with Deadline soon after the
Sony Pictures Classics said it’s planning to release Sean Mullin’s documentary on baseball superstar Yogi Berra, It Ain’t Over, in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on May 12, expanding over following weeks. The film is produced by Natalie Metzger, Matt Miller, Peter Sobiloff and Mike Sobiloff with Vanishing Angle and Off Media, and
Ahead of EFM, Dread, the specialty horror label of distribution and financing outfit Epic Pictures, along with Iconic Events, said they plan to release anthology film Satanic Hispanics on 800 screens in th U.S. Canada and Mexico this September. The film is in five segments directed by Alejandro Brugues (Juan of the Dead), Gigi Saul
Reading the tea leaves with regard to China in 2023 is even more difficult than usual. The country’s about-face on its longstanding zero-Covid policy has implications from geopolitics to economics and, closer to home for Hollywood, the state of the market after a dismal 2022. Exactly what those implications are is where the guesswork comes
Lionsgate, Sony, Newen Join “Biggest” London Screenings The 2023 London Screenings is shaping up to be the biggest yet as the likes of Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Television and Newen Connect join the lineup to bring the number of distributors up to 26. The third annual event now has the most distributors taking part in its
EXCLUSIVE: Roadside Attractions has acquired Moving On, an original comedy written and directed by About a Boy Oscar nominee Paul Weitz starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as estranged friends who reunite to seek revenge on the petulant widower (Malcolm McDowell) of their recently deceased best friend. Along the way, Fonda’s character reunites with her
John Wick prequel series The Continental, which is slated for 2023 debut, will be housed internationally on Prime Video in all territories Amazon’s streaming service is available except Israel and the Middle East. In the U.S., The Continental, produced by Lionsgate Television, will launch on Peacock after it moved from Starz to the NBCU streamer earlier this year. As Deadline
Former Sky Exec Kylie Munnich Named Goalpost Pictures CEO The Invisible Man, Five Blind Dates and Black Snow producer Goalpost Pictures has named film and TV industry veteran Kylie Munnich as its CEO. The Sydney-based producer will welcome her on November 1. The former Sky Studios and Sonar Entertainment exec is leaving a role as head of
Roadside Attractions has taken domestic rights for To The End, the follow-up film from Rachel Lears (Knock Down The House), and set a Dec. 9 theatrical-only release date. The deal was announced by Co-Presidents Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff. The film, which premiered at Sundance, covers three years of both hope and crisis leading to
Widespread optimism months ago that domestic box office might readily return to pre-Covid levels has given way to a new sense of pragmatism about the movie business. This year’s tally will far surpass last year’s $4.5 billion haul, but it will certainly fall billions short of 2019’s $11.4 billion in receipts, and all bets are
EXCLUSIVE: Boutique North American streamer Topic has struck its first ever deal with Israeli powerhouse Yes TV for true crime series Embezzlement. First Look Media Entertainment-owned Topic will take exclusive U.S. and Canada streaming rights from early next year for the Yotam Guendelman and Shira Porat show, which is based on the true-crime story of
Sony Pictures Classics has announced October-December release plans for The Return of Tanya Tucker; Salavatore: Shoemaker Of Dreams; The Son; Living; and Turn Every Page. Additionally, it said, One Fine Morning, written and directed by Mia Hansen-Løve and starring Léa Seydoux, and Davy Chou’s Return To Seoul, which were both acquired out of Cannes, will
EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures International is forming a new partnership with Emirates-based Majid Al Futtaim Distribution which will see the latter release Universal movies in Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, UAE) and Egypt. In Lebanon and Cyprus, Uni will retain its longstanding distribution relationship with Four Star Films. The new deal,
EXCLUSIVE: Acquisitive French media giant Newen Studios has expanded its UK footprint with the purchase of a majority stake in Rise Films, the Oscar-winning producer of Netflix’s Icarus and All That Breathes, Deadline can reveal. The deal closed very recently but Rise had been on Newen’s radar for a while, according to the TF1-backed studio’s Director
EXCLUSIVE: The first season of hit Australian drama RFDS, which portrays the modern heroes of the Royal Flying Doctor Service, has been sold by Banijay Rights across Europe and the Middle East. Australian Seven Network’s gripping show has been picked up by Sky Italia, Ireland’s RTE, M7 Group S.A. in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, TV
Two premiere screenings of rock documentary Freakscene: The Story Of Dinosaur JR grossed over $19K this weekend with a single Saturday show at iconic music venue The Opera House in Williamsburg, Brooklyn taking in north of $17K. Independent distributor Utopia worked with Murmrr, which produces live music events, and art shingle Mondo, which created a