Sky Studios Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

K.J. Yossman Lily Allen (“How to Build a Girl”) and Freema Agyeman (“Doctor Who”) are set to star in Sky Original comedy “Dreamland.”“Dreamland” is based on Sharon Horgan’s BAFTA-winning short of the same name about “secrets, lies, loves and aspirations within a family of four sisters.”“Set in the sun-drenched British seaside town of Margate, it is a dark comedic exploration of multi-generational female relationships, and their (somewhat dysfunctional) family dynamics,” reads the logline.Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Gabby Best, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Frances Barber and Sheila Reid round out the cast.

Paul Bettany is set to star opposite Will Sharpe in Sky‘s limited series about composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Chris McCausland & Lee Mack Set For Sky Festive Special

Slow Horses actress Catherine McCormack is to star alongside Colin Firth in Sky and Peacock‘s retelling of the 1988 terror attack on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Ellise Shafer Catherine McCormack has joined Colin Firth in Sky and Peacock’s upcoming limited series “Lockerbie,” about the 1988 flight disaster in which 259 passengers and crew members were killed. The “Slow Horses” actor will play Jane Swire, the wife of Dr. Jim Swire (Firth).

Kevin Macdonald Helming Klitschko Doc For Sky

EXCLUSIVE: Sky has found its Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Ellise Shafer Colin Firth will lead the upcoming Sky and Peacock original series “Lockerbie,” about the 1988 flight disaster in which 259 passengers and crew members were killed. On Dec. 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland 38 minutes after take-off.

Award-winning actor Colin Firth is set to star in the upcoming Sky and Peacock Original limited event series 'Lockerbie' which is based on the 1988 disaster.

Colin Firth will star as a grieving father in Sky and Peacock‘s true-life drama series Lockerbie.

Naman Ramachandran Fremantle has acquired the international distribution rights for Sky original documentary “Zuckerberg: King of the Metaverse” from Rogan Productions. The feature documentary unveils Mark Zuckerberg’s journey from Harvard student to founder and CEO behind one of the biggest social media platforms in the modern world – Facebook, which is now Meta.

Naman Ramachandran Ella Purnell (“Yellowjackets”) will star in and executive produce “Sweetpea,” a female driven original drama series from pay TV operator Sky. The series is adapted from C.J. Skuse’s novel of the same name by writer and executive producer Kirstie Swain (“Pure”), and written by Kirstie Swain (“Run”) and Krissie Ducker (“Killing Eve”), alongside Laura Jayne Tunbridge (“Nights”) and Selina Lim (“Sex Education”).

Matt Smith is to star in and EP a Sky adaptation of Nick Cave‘s sophomore novel The Death of Bunny Munro.

EXCLUSIVE: Whale with Steve Backshall, the latest high-end natural history series out of the UK is racking up international sales, as the Sky Nature show’s executive producer Wendy Darke talked up the importance of distribution and tax credits in getting such programs made.

EXCLUSIVE: Sky Studios has put in development a comedy series about medieval Essex from The Great writer Ava Pickett and Big Talk Studios.

Sky Studios Italia has unveiled a restructure and new leadership team on the final day of the MIA Market in Rome.

The Kardashian-Jenner family is back!

Chris O’Dowd is penning a Sky comedy-drama starringChristina Hendricks andPaddy Considine about a Hollywood production that disturbs the peace in a fictional town in Ireland.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International U.K. consultancy and theatre company Access All Areas is launching a new production outfit, co-led by learning disabled and autistic talent, and focused on improving learning disabled and neurodivergent representation in TV and film. The launch coincides with a renewed drive for inclusion via the TV Access Project — a coalition of U.K.

Sky Deutschland will no longer make scripted shows from next year and is closing its scripted arm.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief NBCUniversal (NBCU) and JioCinema, Viacom18’s streaming service, have entered into a multi-year partnership bringing thousands of hours of NBCU films and TV series to India. Content is sourced from the Universal Television, UCP, Universal International Studios, Universal Television Alternative Studio, Sky Studios, DreamWorks Animation, Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Bravo brands. NBCU’s programming will live in a Peacock branded hub starting next month on JioCinema’s newly announced “JioCinema Premium” SVOD tier. While JioCinema has been making an audience impact with free-of-charge screenings of the ongoing IPL cricket tournament, the first content announced on the subscription tier hailed from another recent deal with Warner Bros Discovery.

NBCUniversal has entered into a partnership with Indian streaming service JioCinema, owned by Viacom18, bringing thousands of hours of NBCU films and series to India. 

EXCLUSIVE: Sky wanted to start 2023 with a bang. Comcast’s European pay-TV giant gathered journalists at London’s salubrious Soho Hotel and laid on a banquet table heaving with Danish pastries. A smorgasbord of upcoming Sky content was also on the menu, but there was really only one show on everyone’s lips. The Last of Us had recently premiered and Pedro Pascal’s blockbuster apocalypse series was in the mood to steal Sky’s thunder.

The Lazarus Project, a British drama series starring I May Destroy You’s Paapa Essiedu, doesn’t launch until next month on TNT.

Naman Ramachandran Sky and AMC have unveiled several first look images for the upcoming historical psychodrama series, “Mary & George,” starring Oscar and BAFTA-winning actor Julianne Moore (“Still Alice”), alongside Nicholas Galitzine (“Cinderella”) and Tony Curran (“Mayflies”). “Mary & George” is inspired by the true story of Mary Villiers, who moulded her beautiful and charismatic son, George, to seduce King James VI of Scotland and I of England and become his all-powerful lover. Through scheming, the pair rose from humble beginnings to become the richest, most titled and influential players the English court had ever seen, and the King’s most trusted advisors. All this at a time when England’s place on the world stage was under threat from a Spanish invasion and rioters were taking to the streets to denounce the King.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent British director Joe Wright, who helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour” – which earned Gary Oldman an Oscar for his portrayal as the British prime minister – has now changed historical sides.  Wright is at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios shooting high-end TV drama “M. Son of the Century” which chronicles Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. A timely tale because, as he puts it: “Populist leaders are sprouting up all over the world.”  Aesthetically, the show will be “quite outlandish” with deeply saturated colors, punctuated by a “kind of techno score,” the director said during a recent set visit. Though “It’s not told in a vérité style,” Wright pointed out that “All the facts of what happened, they’re all there.” 

Harvey Keitel is to star in Sky/Peacock’s upcoming TV adaptation of The Tattooist of Auschwitz.

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Harvey Keitel has signed on to star in the Sky and Peacock TV adaptation of the Heather Morris novel “The Tattooist of Auschwitz.” Keitel joins previously announced cast members Jonah Hauer-King, Gita Furman, Melanie Lynskey and Jonas Nay in the series. Per the official description, the show “is inspired by the heart-breaking true-life story of Lale and Gita Sokolov. Lale (Hauer-King) arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1942, and shortly after arrival, he was made one of the tätowierer (tattooists), charged to ink identification numbers onto fellow prisoners’ arms. One day, he meets Gita (Próchniak) when tattooing her prisoner number on her arm. They experience love at first sight, and so begins a life-affirming, courageous, unforgettable, and human story. Under constant guard from a volatile SS officer Baretzki (Jonas Nay), Lale and Gita became determined to keep each other alive.”

McKinley Franklin author TNT has announced an official premiere date for its scripted action thriller “The Lazarus Project,” which was previously set to come out earlier this year. “The Lazarus Project” will make its debut on Sunday, June 4 at 9 p.m. ET. The eight-hour drama will follow the story of George, The Lazarus Project’s latest recruit. The organization holds the power to travel back in time at any moment when the world may be on the brink of extinction. When one of George’s closest friends suffers an accident, he has to come to answer the question — “if you had the power to re-write your past, what would you sacrifice to do it?”  The television series was originally set to release on January 8 but was shelved by its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, as it continues to adjust its linear network strategy. “The Lazarus Project” was acquired from the U.K.’s Sky Max, which aired Season 1 in June 2022. The show is now one of the few original scripted series left on TNT, as WBD has wiped most of the original fare off of TBS/TNT in favor of mostly acquired movies and TV repeats, along with sports.

Sky and AMC’s upcoming Mary & George adaptation has found its King James I.

EXCLUSIVE: Non-English language drama streamer Walter Presents has acquired a package of five drama titles from Beta for release on its services in Australia and New Zealand.

Eddie Redmayne, fresh from The Good Nurse, is set to play another killer.

Peacock and Sky have set the cast for their adaptation of The Tattooist of Auschwitz. 

Beyond the festival element of Series Mania, one major draw for international industry professionals is the event’s industry strand, Series Mania Forum, which runs from March 21-23. The popular event, which largely centers around its Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, panels and conferences, wraps up with its Lille Dialogues one-day summit on March 23. 

The rise and fall of former Spanish King Juan Carlos I will be told in a Sky docu-series later this year that will be teased at Berlin.

EXCLUSIVE: Nicholas Galitzine (Cinderella) has been cast opposite Julianne Moore in Sky and AMC’s buzzy period drama Mary & George about powerful royal family favorites Mary Villiers and her son George.

EXCLUSIVE: Peter Capaldi, the former Doctor Who star, is to direct a comedy-drama pilot for Sky Studios about a mother who adopts five children.