Canal Plus Closes Deal To Buy Majority Stake In Broadcaster SPI International

Naman Ramachandran In a major deal that lit up the concluding hours of MipTV 2022, Canal Plus acquired BBC series “Rogue Heroes.” Produced by Kudos and Nebulastar for the BBC, and titled “SAS Rogue Heroes” in the U.K. market, the series developed for television and written by Steven Knight (“Peaky Blinders”), is a dramatized account of how British Special Forces unit, the SAS, was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of WWII.

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios, Screenplay, Disney Plus Hotstar Pact for “Doctor Foster” Indonesian AdaptationBBC Studios property “Doctor Foster” is being adapted by Screenplay Films for Disney Plus Hotstar in Indonesia. “Doctor Foster” is the story of a doctor whose life implodes when she uncovers her husband’s infidelity. The show title in Indonesia will be “Mendua” (Between Two Hearts) and Pritagita Arianegara (“Surga yang Tak Dirindukan 3”) will direct.

Emiliano De Pablos Munich-based Beta Film has closed a raft of major deals over Europe and beyond on Spanish TV dramas “You Shall Not Lie” and “La Fortuna,” two of the most successful recent originals produced by Movistar Plus, Spain’s biggest pay-TV/SVOD operator.Both series have been sold to Italy’s RAI and to HBO for its platform HBO Max for Eastern Europe, Benelux, the Nordics, Netherlands, and Portugal, among other territories.A six-part thriller by Pau Freixas, co-creator of “The Red Band Society,” “You Shall Not Lie” was sold to RTL Deutschland for Germany, where it will premiere on its streaming platform RTL Plus this spring.In France, the drama has been picked up by M6 with an exclusive window for its SVOD service Salto. Furthermore, Antenna TV secured rights for Greece and Cyprus, as well as Blue TV for Turkey.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentSporting a powerful slate of new shows at MipTV, Studiocanal, owned by Vivendi’s Canal Plus, has announced what it describes as a “substantial” distribution deal with U.S.

Marta Balaga Bowing in Canneseries official selection, six-episode miniseries “Infiniti” isn’t just for sci-fi aficionados, Empreinte Digitale producer Eric Laroche told Variety.Co-produced between France and Belgium, the latest Canal Plus offering – created by Stéphane Pannetier and Julien Vanlerenberghe – interweaves multiple storylines, moving from the International Space Station (ISS) that suddenly goes silent to an investigation in Kazakhstan, where a beheaded, wax-covered body is found by a local cop.Discouraged by his superiors, Isaak (Daniyar Alshinov) decides to solve the mystery, while French astronaut Anna Zarathi (Céline Sallette) pursues her dream of space travel.“Having more than one genre, especially in a TV series, is very interesting. But one of them still needs to form the skeleton of the show.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Planete Plus Orders Munich Hostage Thriller DocFrench broadcaster Planete Plus has commissioned factual political thriller “Munich: Of Games and Blood” from Pernel Media to mark the 50th anniversary of the hostage crisis that rocked the Munich Olympic Games on September 5, 1972. Written by Philippe Saada, Yossi Melman and cinematographer Marc Dugain, the doc is narrated by three protagonists present at the original event where Israeli athletes were taken hostage by Palestinian Black September terrorists: an ex-terrorist, a member of the German police, and a Mossad agent.

Naman Ramachandran Veteran businessman Ian Cheshire has been appointed the next chair of U.K. broadcaster Channel 4, media regulator Ofcom revealed on Sunday. Cheshire will join the broadcaster’s board on Apr.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDisney Plus confirmed launch dates — and pricing — for the 42 countries and 11 new territories across Europe, West Asia and Africa.Disney’s flagship streaming service will bow in South Africa on May 18, followed by all other countries listed in June (see below for dates and pricing). The media conglomerate earlier this year announced plans for summer 2022 expansion to countries including Turkey, Poland and the United Arab Emirates.The countries set to get Disney Plus are: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Oman, Palestine Territories, Poland, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vatican City and Yemen.

Naman Ramachandran Vice Distribution has struck a content partnership deal with French media group M6 to bring over 100 hours of premium Vice content to the TV network’s AVOD platform, 6play.The lineup of Vice shows set to roll on 6play comprises the fourth season of the hit psycho-analytical documentary franchise “Thérapie,” the acclaimed documentary “Real par Soul Sisters” and the street food series “Au Camion.” Some Vice franchises are also part of the deal, notably “Dark Side of the 90s,” “Rise Up” and “The Story Of,” as well as award-winning content such as “Gaycation,” “The Trixie” and “Katya Show” and “What Would Diplo Do?”“Vice produces and distributes premium content that resonates with young audiences around the world,” said Bea Hegedus, Vice global head of distribution. Vice Distribution launched in 2020 with a catalogue of over 1,000 of programming.

Paramount International boss Raffaele Annecchino has talked up the streamer for “launching quicker than others” in key European markets, as he unveiled a tied-up with global Lupin and Narcos production house Gaumont and set titles from France, Argentina and Germany.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentParamount Plus, which is the global streaming service of recently rebranded Paramount — formerly ViacomCBS — has forged a three-year partnership with Gaumont, the storied French studio behind Netflix’s “Lupin” and “Narcos,” to jointly produce a slate of high-end original shows for its growing subscribers around the world.Under the partnership Gaumont will produce these series in association with Paramount’s international studio, VIS. The shows will be part of Paramount Plus’s stated plans to green light 50 new non-U.S.

Naman Ramachandran Vendôme Pictures and Pathé are partnering with Tony Award-winning Deaf West Theatre to develop a stage musical adaptation of Oscar nominated and BAFTA-winning film “CODA.”PGA award-winning producers Philippe Rousselet and Fabrice Gianfermi of Vendôme and Jerome Seydoux of Pathé co-produced the film alongside Patrick Wachsberger. Vendôme also co-produced the French film, “La Famille Bélier” on which “CODA” is based.

A Place in the Sun’s Laura Hamilton was caught on video pole dancing in a Spanish bar on Tuesday while away on location for the Channel 4 show. The 39 year old was filmed enjoying a wild night out after flying to Valencia on work duty in a clip posted to Instagram Story to be watched by the presenter’s 153,000 followers.

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Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentDisney Plus has unveiled the trailer and key art for “Parallels,” its new French Original series which has been described as a fantasy sci-fi series in the vein of “Stranger Things.” All six episodes will launch on March 23 on Disney Plus’ platform worldwide.“Parallels” tells the story of four friends – Bilal, Romane, Samuel and Victor – whose lives are turned upside down when a mysterious event scatters the group into different timelines. The four teenagers will do all they can to understand what has happened and try to get back to the carefree innocence of their former lives.The series is headlined by teenagers and features many fresh faces, including Thomas Chomel (“Clem”), Omar Mebrouk (“HPI”, “Les Invisibles”), Jules Houplain (“HPI”), Jade Pedri (“Ils étaient dix”), Naidra Ayadi (“Polisse”, “Black Spot”, “Stillwater”) and Guillaume Labbé (“The Hookup Plan”, “Je te promets”, “L’Ecole de la vie”).