CIA-Led Crypto Firm Depicted in New Spy Drama Series ‘Codeword: Rubicon’ (EXCLUSIVE)

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent It’s pitch dark and stormy and Pelle Heikkilä, one of Finland’s biggest stars, is getting slammed by massive waves in a 10-meter-deep water tank. The shoot of “Estonia,” a Scandinavian limited series about Europe’s deadliest civil maritime disaster, is underway in Belgium at an indoor water stage. The eight-part cinematic show, which is budgeted at €15 million ($14.7 million) and is being shopped by Jan Mojto’s Beta Film (“Babylon Berlin”) at Mipcom, charts the sinking of the MS Estonia on Sept. 28, 1994, which killed over 850 people. The series is directed by Swedish director Måns Månsson (“The Real Estate,” “Chernobyl”) and Finnish director Juuso Syrjä (“Bordertown,” “Helsinki Syndrome”), who are polar opposites, one coming from festival-friendly auteur filmmaking, the other coming from high-end commercials.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Sydney Gallonde, the French producer of Make It Happen Studio, is set to re-team with MGM TV Intl. Productions on a biopic of Eugene Bullard, one of the first Black American military pilots who was also a boxer and a jazz musician. Gallonde has acquired the book rights to Claude Ribbe’s biography of Bullard, which shed light on the man’s heroic life and drew headlines on French media across the country when it was published in 2012. Like many Black American entertainers such as Josephine Baker, Bullard left America for Europe and France in 1914 to escape racial segregation, lynchings and prejudice. The young and adventurous man, who was born in Georgia, eventually settled in Paris looking for a better life and worked at a music hall. When WWI erupted, Bullard enlisted in France’s Foreign Legion along with other foreign volunteers, becoming one of the few Black combat pilots during the war. He then volunteered for the French Air Service and later became a flight fighter for the French Army. 

Emily Blunt is looking lovely for her latest red carpet appearance!

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent On the outskirts of Paris, in a vast, industrial-looking studio in Bry-sur-Marne, the clocks have turned back to the 1770s. Opulent decor — gilded furniture, flower-adorned curtains and marble everywhere — fills the soundstage. The atmosphere is studious on the set of “Marie-Antoinette,” a lavish French-produced costume drama created, co-written and executive produced by Deborah Davis. She’s delivering a feminist take on an infamous historical figure, best-known for apocryphally advising the starving masses to eat cake. We all know how that ended. On screen, Marie-Antoinette hasn’t been treated better than she was at the guillotine, where she’s often depicted as a villain or a frivolous airhead.

EJ Panaligan editor Prime Video released the official teaser for upcoming series “Riches,” the streamer’s family drama about the privileged Richards family. The high-stakes series is written and created by Abby Ajayi and stars ​​Deborah Ayorinde, Hugh Quarshie, Sarah Niles, Adeyinka Akinrinade, Ola Orebiyi, Nneka Okoye and Emmanuel Imani. Here’s the logline: When Stephen Richards, played by Quarshie, passes suddenly, the family’s world comes crashing down and threatens the viability of the family business. His different sets of children, with conflicting ideals and goals, collide in an attempt for unilateral control of the business.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent The European Work in Progress Cologne (EWIP), an annual film industry event taking place in Germany, has unveiled the lineup of its 5th edition which will showcase 28 projects selected out of 150 submissions. The event, set to take place Oct. 17-19 in the run up to the Cologne Film Festival, will hand out approximately €60,000 worth of funding and will introduce a new prize, the EWIP TorinoFilmLab Audience Design Award. All projects will be presented in a 15-minute pitching session to EWIP guests and an international jury. This year’s jury will include Olivier Barbier, head of acquisitions at mk2 films; Vanja Kaludjercic, director of the Rotterdam festival (IDFA); Julien Rejl, Cannes’ Director’s Fortnight’s new artistic director; Saralisa Volm, a filmmaker and actress; and Thanassis Karathanos, producer at Twenty Twenty Vision.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent France tv distribution has boarded “Sweetheart” (“Chouchou”), an eight-part drama series produced by well-known Quebec-based company Passez Go. Written by Simon Boulerice, the drama show revolves around Chanelle, a 38-year-old teacher who is happily married with two children. Her life unravels after she meets Sandrick, a 17-year-old teenager who has just been transferred to her class, and falls under his charm. Chanelle tries to help Sandrick as he struggles at home with his dysfunctional mother, but their relationship turns into an illicit and passionate affair that leaves no one unscathed. The series is directed by Félix Tétreault and Marie-Claude Blouin (“Le Chalet”).

German powerhouse Constantin Film and Frank Spotnitz’s Big Light Productions have teamed to make a high-end drama series about the events surrounding the Nuremberg Trials.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix’s Director of Local Language Originals for the CEE, Anna Nagler, has outlined the streamer’s ambitions in region, as its biggest drama series from the region, High Water, launches globally today.

EXCLUSIVE: Sidekick no more. CBS is going for a fresh take on Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic mystery franchise with Watson, from Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment and CBS Studios. The medical drama with detective elements, in development at the broadcast network, is written by Craig Sweeny, who spent five years on CBS’ Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson procedural Elementary, most of them as executive producer.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Magnolia Pictures has acquired U.S. rights to “Kompromat,” an action thriller film directed by Jerome Salle (“The Largo Winch” ), starring Gilles Lellouche (“The Stronghold”) and Joanna Kulig (“Cold War”). SND, the commercial arm of M6, is representing the film in international markets. Loosely based on a true story, “Kompromat” stars Lellouche as a French diplomat working in Siberia who is arrested overnight by the Russian authorities. Accused of sexually abusing his own daughter and imprisoned, he realizes he is a victim of a Kompromat. Someone is working with the FSB (Federal Security Service) to frame him. His only way out is to escape.

EXCLUSIVE: Austin Hébert (Unbelievable), Jonah Wharton (The Rookie) and Hannah Love Lanier (A Black Lady’s Sketch Show) are the latest cast additions to Taylor Sheridan’s CIA drama series Lioness at Paramount+. They join previously announced series regulars Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Dave Annable, LaMonica Garrett and James Jordan.

Nothing ever dies. It’s true in television as much as it is in vampire fiction, as the last few decades of weaponized nostalgia have seen dozens of properties remade for the small screen.

Vivienne Kelly Australian streaming service Stan and production and content studio Lionsgate have commissioned a new original drama series “Prosper.” “Prosper” will be produced by Lingo Pictures and benefits from major production investment from Screen Australia, with additional assistance from the New South Wales government via Screen NSW and the Made in NSW Fund. The series is part of the ongoing television development partnership for Stan Originals to deliver worldwide content for Lionsgate. It will be set in the inner sanctum of a family bound together by unfathomable wealth and unchecked power as they build an evangelical megachurch hell-bent on global domination, Stan said.Matt Cameron (“Jack Irish”), Liz Doran (“Please Like Me”), Louise Fox (“Broadchurch”) and Belinda Chayko (“Stateless”) are writers on the project. Jason Stephens (“Lambs of God”) and Helen Bowden (“The Secret She Keeps”) are producers for Lingo Pictures, alongside Andrew Walker (“Rosehaven”). Cailah Scobie and Amanda Duthie will executive produce for Stan.

Anna Marie de la Fuente In its continued bid to create more premium content for the Latin American market under its Onza Americas banner, Madrid-based Onza Entertainment – behind such hit series as “The Department of Time” and a collaborator on Dopamine’s historical drama “Hernan” – is developing political drama series “Sattva.” Created by Spanish actor Ruben Sanz (“El Dragon”) and written by Int’l Emmy-nominated Luis Gamboa (“Promesas de Campaña”), the series is conceived as a transatlantic production between Mexico and Spain. Onza is presenting “Saatva” at Iberseries & Platino Industria’s new Co-Production & Financing Forum on Sept. 28.

Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender has rounded out its cast, adding 20 actors, including George Takei, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Danny Pudi and Arden Cho.

Ellise Shafer Noah Centineo has officially gone from high school heartthrob to CIA spy. During Netflix’s Tudum fan event on Saturday, the former “To All the Boys” star revealed that his upcoming espionage series is titled “The Recruit” and will premiere Dec. 16 on the streamer. He also shared the first photo from the show (above), which features him staring something down (a villain, perhaps?) from behind a door with a cut on his cheek. According to its logline, “The Recruit” centers on “a fledgling lawyer at the CIA that becomes enmeshed in dangerous international power politics when a former asset threatens to expose the nature of her long-term relationship with the agency unless they exonerate her of a serious crime.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is set to be the latest center of crime fighting.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Continuing to tap top series from Spain, Munich-based Beta Film has snapped up international distribution rights to “Simple,” the new dramedy by Anna R. Costa, the co-creator of Movistar Plus+‘s most-binged series, “Arde Madrid.” Costa’s directorial debut, “Simple” world premiered earlier this week in San Sebastian as a Movistar Plus+ world premiere. Produced by Movistar Plus+ in collaboration with Destrucción y Salvación, “Simple” turns on four young women in their twenties and thirties, who have reached a milestone in their lives: Sharing an apartment as truly independent adults. The series follows the flat mates, all of whom have disabilities, as they navigate the pressures of adulthood and the absurd norms imposed on them by society.