ITV Studios Sells ‘Litvinenko’ to 80-Plus Territories

ITV Studios has acquired a majority stake in Australian producer Lingo Pictures — marking its first acquisition in the country.

EXCLUSIVE: Beta Cinema has unveiled a raft of first deals for German director Kilian Riedhof’s drama You Will Not Have My Hate, inspired by the experiences of French writer Antoine Leiris, whose wife was killed in the November 13, 2015 terror attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris.

Mipcom — the first full-strength edition of the fall confab since 2019 — prepares to come to a close in Cannes on Thursday, Variety presents the top takeaways from a vibrant market. Mipcom Proves Itself Those of us who saw tumbleweeds rolling across the Croisette at a painfully quiet Mipcom 2021 and Miptv earlier this year will know that this Mipcom was the first since since pre-pandemic times that the international TV industry has congregated from all over the globe. Morale was sky high as sellers saw their Asian contacts for the first time in three years, and U.S. studios assured global buyers amid a strained period of domestic consolidation. While specialized markets such as Series Mania, MIA, Realscreen and Sunny Side of the Doc returned this year, delegates seemed to recognize the value of having the entire industry together in one place. Mip organizer RX has confirmed that MipTV is indeed going ahead in April — and will likely face the perennial struggle of getting exhibitor buy-in — but if there’s anything no one is questioning, it’s the fact that Mipcom is an essential meeting of minds for television.

EXCLUSIVE: Paul Calderón (Pulp Fiction, Bosch) has joined the cast of the Marvel Studios Disney+ series Ironheart in an undisclosed role, Deadline has learned.

This Morning fans didn't appear too thrilled as they made an observation after Jay Blades and Roman Kemp both appeared on the show. But the issue wasn't with the guest as such. Both The Repair Shop star and Capital FM DJ appeared live on the ITV daytime programme on Tuesday (October 18) to chat to Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary.

ITV’s share price spiked today following news the UK network is considering selling part of its production and sales arm ITV Studios.

Emmerdale's 50th anniversary celebrations got off to a wind-fuelled start as the storm looming over the Yorkshire Dales started to cause havoc for some of the village's much-loved residents. The ITV soap celebrated its five decades on air on Sunday (October 16) with a special hour-long episode kicking off a week's worth of drama.

ITVX and Viaplay four-partner Litvinenko, which will see David Tennant playing the doomed Russian dissident, has sold into 80 territories ahead of its launch. AMC+ and Sundance Now have taken rights in the U.S., while Prime Video bagged Canada from distributor ITV Studios. 

Manori Ravindran International Editor The David Tennant-starring “Litvinenko” has sold into AMC+ and Sundance Now in the U.S., along with a host of other buyers in 80 international markets. The drama has pre-sold ahead of its debut on ITV’s forthcoming U.K. streaming service ITVX, which launches this fall, and NENT Group’s Viaplay streaming service in the Nordics, Netherlands, Poland and Baltics. Written by George Kay (“Lupin”) and produced by Patrick Spence, ITV Studios and Tiger Aspect Productions, the drama tells the story of Alexander Litvinenko, the former Russian Federal Security Services and KGB officer, whose death from polonium poisoning in November 2006 triggered one of the most complex and dangerous investigations in the history of the Metropolitan Police.

EXCLUSIVE: The story of popular UK lads magazine Loaded, which covered the 1990s Cool Britannia era in all its glory, is to be told in a TV series from Channel 4-backed Spirit Studios.

The Weeknd is joining the likes of Michael Myers and Dracula at Halloween Horror Nights, where “Blinding Lights”, “Heartless” and other chart-toppers drown out the screams from park guests in “The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare”.

The Weeknd is joining the likes of Michael Myers and Dracula at Halloween Horror Nights, where «Blinding Lights,» «Heartless» and other chart-toppers drown out the screams from park guests in . To get all the behind-the-scenes details, ET spoke with John Murdy, executive producer of HHN at Universal Studios Hollywood, who worked closely with The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, to create a “surreal living nightmare filled with grotesque characters and themes” inspired by his music and short films. “Abel had a very specific idea. He wanted to focus on what he would refer to as ‘the universe of ,’” Murdy explains.

International co-productions are all the rage right now, and Europe’s top players are looking to the U.S.

K.J. Yossman Molly Parker (“Lost in Space”) and Brian J. Smith (“Treadstone”) have been cast in upcoming Canadian ITV Studios drama “Essex County.” Joining them as lead cast are Stephen McHattie (“October Faction”), Finlay Wojtak-Hissong (“Blood”) and Kevin Durand (“Pantheon”). Christina Piovesan, executive producer and CEO of First Generation Films unveiled the casting. The five-episode series is based on Jeff Lemire’s graphic novel of the same name, which explores themes of loss, betrayal, trauma and redemption via two families living in a rural community. Lemire is also writing and showrunning the series, which is directed by Andrew Cividino (“Schitt’s Creek”).

EXCLUSIVE: Labid Aziz’s People of Culture Studios is partnering with Man of Action Entertainment (Ben 10), Creation Station and Composition Media to produce the 3D animated family feature Sky & Luna, based on the original IP from Creation Station.

K.J. Yossman London-based longform news and podcasting outlet Tortoise Media has inked an exclusive first-look deal with Tortoise Media. The multi-year deal will see Sky potentially adapting Tortoise’s original podcasts including their investigative podcast “The Slow Newscast” into scripted and factual high-end series and/or features in the U.K., Italy, Germany and more. Tortoise will collaborate with Sky Studios during the development purpose on the Sky Original projects. Among the podcast series Tortoise Media has put out are “Sweet Bobby,” an investigation into one of the world’s most sophisticated catfishes, and “Hoaxed,” a multi-part series about one of Britain’s most   Since 2019, Tortoise Media has produced chart-topping podcast series such as “Sweet Bobby” and “Hoaxed,” their latest multi-part series exploring one of Britain’s most unusual conspiracy theories, in which an affluent London school community was torn apart by allegations of a satanic paedophile ring was in operation.

Sky Studios Strikes Podcast-To-Screen Deal With Tortoise Media