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EXCLUSIVE: Fox has given a script commitment to Elfquest, a one-hour animated drama series based on the epic fantasy adventure comic series created by Wendy and Richard Pini. The project hails from Bento Box Entertainment and Modern Magic. Susan Hurwitz Arneson (The Last Amazon) will pen the series adaptation and serve as showrunner and executive producer.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Fisher King, the leading Finnish company behind some of Scandinavia’s biggest scripted hits including “Bordertown” and “The Helsinki Syndrome,” has gone bankrupt amid challenges that have thrown the Scandinavian TV industry into turmoil. Beta Film, which acquired Fisher King in 2019 and subsequently launched the umbrella banner Beta Nordic Studios, said the company was declared bankrupt on Dec.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Big-budget disaster series “Estonia,” Canneseries winner “Power Play” and “Painkiller,” the TV drama debut of Göteborg victor Gabriela Pilcher (“Amateur”) feature in the five contenders for next year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize which serves to underscore the robust breadth of current Nordic scripted series. Also in the running is “Prisoner,” a second admired Cannes series main competition contender featuring “The Killing” star Sofie Gråbøl, and “Descendants,” the showrunning debut of famed Icelandic thesp Tinna Hrafnsdóttir.

Finland-based fund management company IPR.VC Management has completed the first closing of its largest film and television production financing fund to date (IPR.VC Fund III), and has appointed entertainment financier Andrea Scarso as Partner and Investment Director.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Beta Film has dropped the trailer for “Estonia,” a Scandinavian limited series about Europe’s deadliest civil maritime disaster. The eight-part cinematic show, which is represented in international markets by Jan Mojto’s Beta Film (“Babylon Berlin”), charts the sinking of the Ms Estonia on Sept.

Netflix.

Every month, Netflix releases a small list of movies and television shows that will be expiring from the streaming service in the coming weeks.

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 CorrespondentBeta has pre-sold sprawling Finnish drama series “Estonia” to Germany’s broadcaster Seven.One Entertainment Group, the parent company of ProSieben. The eight-hour drama, about the deadliest civil maritime disaster in recent European history, is now in its third week of shooting.

Tim Gray Senior Vice PresidentEverybody has to start somewhere. Cate Blanchett — long before her two Oscars and starring roles in film, TV and on stage — had an oddball beginning in showbiz.On March 28, 1994, Variety mentioned “Police Rescue,” a big-screen version of the hit Aussie TV series, in which she appeared.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBeta Film has acquired world sales rights to “Estonia,” an ambitious Finnish series telling the true story of Europe’s deadliest maritime disaster of the 20th century. The eight-part event drama will reteam “Bordertown” creator Miikko Oikkonen (“Bordertown,” “Helsinki Syndrome”) and helmer Juuso Syrjä (Bordertown) who will split directing duties with Måns Månsson (“Snabba Cash”).Finland’s biggest drama project to date, “Estonia” is produced by Beta Nordic Studio’s Finnish banner Fisher King, and co-produced by Swedish Kärnfilm AB, Panache Production Belgium and the Estonian Amrion Oü.

Annika Pham Helsinki-based Tekele has unveiled the international trailer of its first premium crime drama “Transport”, which is in the running for this year’s Nordisk Film & TV Fond Prize for best Nordic TV screenplay. The prestigious award will be handed out Feb.

Cate Blanchett (Nightmare Alley, Don’t Look Up) will produce and star in A Manual for Cleaning Women, the first English-language feature from Oscar-winning Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar (Parallel Mothers, Pain and Glory), Deadline has confirmed.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentIn the run up to Series Mania, European network Arte and German public broadcaster NDR have boarded “Helsinki Syndrome,” a contemporary Nordic Noir thriller series headlined by “Vikings” star Peter Franzén and created by Mikko Oikkonen (“Bordertown”). “Helsinki Syndrome” is the first series jointly produced by Beta Film and leading Finnish production banner Fisher King which is part of the Beta Nordic Entertainment Group.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentHBO Nordic has acquired AJ Annila’s searing international political thriller “Peacemaker” from REinvent International Sales.Set across Turkey, Syria and Spain, the timely show is headlined by Irina Björklund (“Bordertown”) who stars as Ann-Mari, a peacemaker struggling to defuse an escalating conflict between the Kurds and the Turks, and unexpectedly sparks a scandal by revealing a Finnish state-owned company’s involvement in the arms trade.“We are

Mikko Oikkonen, creator of Netflix Finnish crime series Bordertown, has received the greenlight for his next project, the Nordic thriller Helsinki Syndrome. Finnish public broadcaster YLE and world sales group Beta Film have come on board to back the eight-hour limited series, which will begin shooting in Finland in June.

Annika Pham ‘Vikings’ star Peter Franzén will headline premium Finnish series “Helsinki Syndrome” from “Bordertown” creator Mikko Oikkonen, co-writer Antti Pesonen and helmer Juuso Syrjä.The eight-part suspense thriller is produced by Beta Film-backed Fisher King for Finnish pubcaster Yle.

Also Read: Elisabeth Moss Reteams With Blumhouse for Psychological Thriller 'Mrs. March'The film also stars Misha Osherovich, Celeste O’Connor, Uriah Shelton, Alan Ruck, Katie Finneran and Dana Drori.Landon wrote “Freaky” alongside Michael Kennedy (Fox’s “Bordertown”).

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBeta Nordic Studios, a subsidiary of Jan Mojto’s Munich-based sales powerhouse Beta Film, has acquired a 25% stake in Sagafilm, the thriving Icelandic production banner behind the Cineflix-repped series “The Minister.” Sagafilm will now be part of Beta Nordic Studios, an unbrella group launched in 2019, comprising Patrick Nebout’s Swedish banner Dramacorp (“Cryptid”) and Matti Halonen’s Finnish company Fisher King (“Bordertown”).

The Simpsons star Hank Azaria was scared into taking out insurance for his vocal cords after realising how much of his income depended on his voice acting gigs.