Netflix Strikes Wide-Ranging Deal With Germany’s Constantin Film

It’s Day 4 of the SAG-AFTRA strike and Day 77 of the WGA strike.

All train lines are closed between Bolton and Preston railway stations as emergency services deal with an incident. Northern said train services running through the stations would be cancelled or delayed by 60 minutes

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Playmaker has signed with “Resident Evil” producer Constantin Film to handle the international sales for its FrightFest London contender “Home Sweet Home – Where Evil Lives,” a one-shot horror film told in real time by director Thomas Sieben (“Kidnapping Stella”). The film stars German A-list cast Nilam Farooq (“Heilstätten,” “Contra”), Justus von Dohnányi (“The Experiment”) and David Kross (“The Reader”). “Home Sweet Home – Where Evil Lives” will have its world premiere at FrightFest London, which runs Aug. 24-28. It will be screened in the Main Screen section on Aug. 28 at the Cineworld Leicester Square on an IMAX screen.

K.J. Yossman Big Zuu, the BAFTA-winning chef, TV host and grime artist, has inked a development deal with Banijay U.K. Zuu, who is also known as Zuhair Hassan, signed the deal under his production label Big Productions, which specializes in factual, comedy entertainment and music content including cooking show “Big Zuu’s Big Eats.” Zuu co-founded the label with managing director Matt Dodds and creative director Alex Gilman. The company is planning new comedy and factual entertainment formats, scripted, documentary, and live event shows as well as a focus on new talent and new voices on both sides of the camera.

Fox Entertainment Global, the nascent international distribution arm of the U.S. network, has struck a sales pact with Canadian company Neshama.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Celebrity chef David Chang has signed a production deal with Brent Montgomery and Jimmy Kimmel’s Wheelhouse. Previously under a production agreement with Vox Media, Chang’s banner, Majordomo Media, has set a pact with Wheelhouse, a producer on Chang’s latest Hulu series, “Secret Chef,” to exclusively develop and produce unscripted programming across food, home and lifestyle, among other genres. Wheelhouse and Chang are also focused on creating original content and developing new talent for his new FAST channel, MajordomoTV, co-developed with LG Electronics.

Bradley Cooper is teaming up with iHeartMedia.

iHeartMedia has announced a multi-year audio deal between iHeartPodcasts and Lea Pictures, a production company founded by Bradley Cooper in 2020.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent In a broad-based deal, Netflix and Germany’s Constantin Film, one of Europe’s biggest production-distribution companies behind the “Resident Evil” film franchise and TV series “Shadowhunters,” have struck an exclusive long-term partnership.  The powerful alliance sees Netflix acquiring pay distribution rights pay to Constantin Film’s theatrical productions in the German-speaking region. These include national and international original and co-produced films, as well as films acquired for cinema or straight-to-video (STV) release. German and international theatrical productions.  Titles will be made available to Netflix subscribers on an SVOD basis 10-12 months after their theatrical release. In return, Netflix will contribute significantly to the financing of these productions, Constantin Film announced this week. The new agreement grants Netflix licensed access to Constantin Film’s existing film and series catalog, it added. 

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Bradley Cooper wants to bring a new slate of “real people telling real stories” to your earbuds. The actor and filmmaker’s Lea Pictures production company signed a multiyear audio deal with iHeartPodcasts, the podcast division of iHeartMedia. The collaboration will encompass several co-produced shows including “The Good Stuff Podcast,” which debuted earlier this month and marks Lea Pictures’ first audio project. Cooper will serve as executive producer for the entire slate, which will be distributed by iHeartPodcasts on the iHeartRadio app and other audio platforms. “Sharing stories that inspire, motivate and resonate is one of the reasons I started Lea Pictures, and I’m excited to team up with iHeartPodcasts to bring them to life for millions of listeners,” Cooper said in a statement provided to Variety. “Our shows will feature real people telling real stories, and we knew iHeart was the perfect partner to reach as many people as possible. I look forward to dreaming up more extraordinary stories together.”

EXCLUSIVE: Audible has greenlit two Audible Original documentary podcasts from the UK’s Raw, producer of The Imposter, Three Identical Strangers and The Tinder Swindler.

Ascendant Fox, one of the producers behind hit Stephen Graham indie pic Boiling Point, which is being made into a BBC TV series, has struck a development deal with BBC Studios and signed the commissioner of Netflix’s Bank of Dave.

Disney has struck a multi-show deal with Channel 4 for the UK network’s rebranded streaming service including the likes of The X Files, Abbott Elementary and Bones.

Refresh for latest…: Disney/Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is off to a disappointing start with a $130M global opening. Of that, $70M is from 52 international box office markets as the the fifth installment in the beloved 42-year-old franchise came in below projections.

While the AMPTP is going down to the wire in negotiations with U.S. actors, their counterparts north of the border have struck their own deal.

EXCLUSIVE: Shondrella Avery, who starred in Napoleon Dynamite, is developing a slew of unscripted projects after striking a first-look deal with Bling Empire producer Jeff Jenkins Productions.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has signed a five-year deal with Japanese screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto, winner of the Best Screenplay award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for Hirokazu Kore-eda’s competition title Monster. 

Guess they do have some talent… enough for Netflix to stick around, at least!

EXCLUSIVE: Iñaki Godoy, the 19-year-old lead of Netflix’s forthcoming series One Piece, has signed with M88 for representation.

Roku is moving into the sports world.