First Came ‘Squid Game’, Now Korea’s ‘Pyramid Game’ Is Heading For Series Mania

EXCLUSIVE: Melanie Marnich is a huge fan of Big Little Lies scribe Liane Moriarty‘s work, but when showrunning an adaptation of Moriarty’s Apples Never Fall, Marnich blocked the HBO hit from her consciousness almost entirely.

A family were left gutted after a mindless yob leapt out of a car to destroy a snowman built by their young daughter.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor UPDATE, 3/8, 1:15 p.m. ET: In an about-face, Apple restored Epic Games‘ developer account for Sweden, two days after terminating it over what the tech giant said was Epic’s “egregious breach of its contractual obligations to Apple.” Epic said Apple’s reversal will allow it proceed with plans to launch battle-royale game “Fortnite” and the Epic Games Store in European countries.

Francesca Orsi Wins Series Mania Award

Pyramid Game has been dubbed the new Squid Game in some circles, and it isn’t just because of its similar name.Based on the South Korean webtoon of the same name, Pyramid Game is a psychological thriller survival series set in an all-girls high school where students are ranked based on their popularity – which leads to violence against the lower ranks.The series is created by Lee Jae-gyun and stars Kim Ji-yeon, who is best known as a member of the South Korean girl group WJSN. Other cast members include Jang Da-ah, Ryu Da-in, Shin Seul-ki and Kang Na-eon.Pyramid Game will have its European premiere at Series Mania in March, following its debut in Korea on TVING last month.Along with the similarities in title, Pyramid Game and Squid Game are both Korean dramas which share similar survival themes – with the former set in the hierachy of a school, while the latter serves as commentary on capitalist society at large.The huge success of Squid Game has also led to a chase to replicate its success, with the existence of Pyramid Game likely being a byproduct of its popularity.The series has also received some positive early buzz.

EXCLUSIVE: “Plan to leave something behind so your name’ll live on / no matter what the game lives on,” says Nas on his 1999 album Nastradamus, and now the revered rapper is making some moves in a new game.

EXCLUSIVE: Beta Film has picked up distribution rights to French thriller Homejacking, which is co-created by Lupin writer Tigran Rosine, and will launch sales at Series Mania.

Ten projects have been selected for the second edition of Seriesmakers, Series Mania’s development lab for feature film directors sidestepping into series production. 

Patricia Arquette has been unveiled as this years Series Mania guest of honor and will deliver a masterclass.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Atlas Distribution Company, a U.S. indie distributor, has set Vietnamese-American co-production film “A Fragile Flower” on course for a theatrical release in the U.S. Produced by the duo Mai Thu Huyen and Jacqueline Thu Thao, the romantic musical drama, with a screenplay by Vietnamese singing sensation Nhat Ha, is set debut from Mar.

Series Mania brings the world of drama together every year in March in Lilles, France. It has public screenings and competition strands spanning various types of scripted TV. The industry component, the Forum, includes the Co-Production Pitching Sessions, which have become one of the event’s signature elements.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav had a bunch of updates this morning about upcoming content on Max, including the next “Game Of Thrones” spinoff.

EXCLUSIVE: America Ferrera‘s hot streak continues, as the Barbie Oscar nom has been set to executive produce and star in Naked by the Window, a series adaptation of the book by Robert Katz, which has landed at Amazon MGM Studios for development following a bidding war.

Drama series set in the worlds of Eurovision and the Vatican are among the selected projects for Series Mania‘s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions next month.

Marta Balaga Slovakia’s explosive political drama “Our People” will head to Series Mania’s Forum Co-Pro Pitching Sessions in March. Produced by Jakub Viktorín and Tomáš Hrubý for nutprodukcia and written by Miro Šifra, it will be directed by Tereza Nvotová. The miniseries, inspired by tragic real events, depicts the killing of investigative journalist Ján Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kušnírová.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent “A True Novel,” directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, manga-inspired “Issak,” written by Itaru Mizuno (“Double Booking”) and “4 Blocks” Richard Kropf, look like potential highlights at this year’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, the centerpiece at Series Mania’s Forum, as its projects expand ever more their geographic compass, here welcoming their first titles co-produced by Japan. They are joined by titles from around the world such as Argentinean Daniel Burman’s “Witness 36,” which won the Series Mania Award at the Berlinale Series Market on Tuesday, and a slice of Vatican noir and which reunites the team of “De Grace,”and The Forum runs March 19-21 during Series Mania, Europe’s biggest dedicated TV festival, which will unspool this year over March 15-22 in Lille, Northern France.

Annika Pham Fremantle’s Norwegian banner Monster, behind hit TV shows “Exit,” “Furia” and “Pørni, will be bringing to Series Mania Forum’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions ‘The Odesa Wrestlers’, which has received development coin from Norwegian pubcaster NRK. Celebrated Norwegian podcaster Joachim Førsund and star actor Thorbjørn Harr (“Vikings”, “22 July”, “Sex”) are making their debut as co-creators, with Førsund also serving as screenwriter and Harr as episodic director.

The first Superman: Legacy cast photo is here, and it’s from the table read of the movie!

The debut trailer for the Borderlands movie just dropped online!

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In early Series Mania business, Europe’s Beta Film has pounced on international distribution rights to “30 Days of Lust,” a half-hour dramedy from Munich’s Trimafilm, in which a couple, high-school sweethearts but now knocking 30, experiment with 30 days of free sex. Beta Film has also shared in exclusivity with Variety a first clip from the eight-part series which world premieres in International Panorama Competition at next month’s Series Mania, a section whose value is rising fast as companies seek to leverage TV festival selection as a sign of distinction in a still hugely crowded fiction TV marketplace. In the clip, from the early going of Ep.