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An Irish crime drama, a Brazilian heist thriller and a Nigerian fantasy about a man reborn with the powers of Jesus Christ are among the projects at this year’s Seriesmakers, a pitching and mentoring session that runs as part of the international TV event Series Mania Forum, which runs March 25-27 in Lille.

10 international projects from director-producer and director-writer teams will take part in the event, pitching their series ideas, with the top project winning the Beta & Kirch Foundation Award, including a €50,000 ($55,000) grant that will help the winning team collaborate with European production and sales house Beta Group in developing a pilot script and a full project package for their show.

The selected projects span multiple genres and countries (see below), from the Finnish foodie comedy Le Bouton D’Or, from veteran arthouse director Mika Kaurismäki (L.A. Without a Map, Road North) to the Spanish political thriller The...

Erik Barmack’s “Fusion,” Sally Wainwright’s “Riot Women” and epic fantasy “War of the Kingdoms” feature as potential highlights at the Series Mania Forum’s first Buyers Upfront, whose lineup was announced Tuesday by Series Mania founder and director general Laurence Herszberg.

Kicking off with a Beta Brunch on March 24, the Buyers Upfront also features latest series from Ard, Zdf Studios, Mediawan, Sidus, Beta Film, Slot Machine, REinvent and Bande à Part Films – making for a mouthwatering prospect.

The Upfront also underscores two trends: a move into English-language production which has larger U.S. streamer sales prospects; an increasingly attractive financing model, at least for selectively produced foreign-language shows, based on tying down partners and pre-sales among local broadcasters in Europe rather than waiting for currently highly challenging U.S. deal with a streamer.

Part of producer-distributor Erik Barmack’s drive at Wild Sheep Content into “top talent from smaller countries,...

Allegaeon have announced their seventh album, The Ossuary Lens — their first to feature original vocalist Ezra Haynes since 2014.

The Denver-based band also offered the single “Driftwood” ahead of the album’s April 4th release date.

Get Allegaeon Tickets Here

Haynes’ presence has an immediate effect, his more gravelly vocal adding further extremity to Allegaeon’s hyper-technical form of death metal. Maximal drums and winding guitar lines are woven into an prog-like arrangement that ducks into ambient passages, melodic sections, and grinding riff-laden brutality.

“This song holds a special place in Allegaeon history, honestly,” recalled guitarist Greg Burgess in a press release. “This piece was written for Apoptosis by our then-brand new bassist Booboo. In its original form, it was so tech death, I don’t think we knew how to incorporate it into the Allegaeon sound when he submitted it. Fast forward six years and, as we were kicking around ideas for this album,...

Christian Juttner, a child actor in the 1970s who appeared in the films Return From Witch Mountain, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and The Swarm and on several TV shows, has died. He was 60.

Juttner died Nov. 29 of natural causes at his home in Yucca Valley, California, his daughter Aidan Juttner told The Hollywood Reporter.

Return From Witch Mountain, I Wanna Hold Your Hand and The Swarm appeared in theaters within five months of one another in 1978.

He portrayed Dazzler, one of the truants known as the Earthquake Gang, in the sequel Return From Witch Mountain, and in I Wanna Hold Your Hand, the feature directorial debut of Robert Zemeckis, he was the boy with a Beatles-style haircut who is determined to see the Fab Four perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964.

And in the Irwin Allen-directed disaster film The Swarm, Juttner portrayed a kid who suffers...

The former head of the Berlinale series has joined German network Zdf to oversee acquisitions for the international fiction team.

Julia Fidel replaced the retiring Ingrid Gränz in November. She joins a feature film and series acquisitions department that is responsible for licencing for Zdf, ZDFneo, 3sat and the ZDFmediathek. She will negotiate with German, European and U.S. studio buyers, populating strands including Made in Europe and Adrenalin.

Fidel was most recently working for Frank Doelger’s The Swarm producer Intaglio Films, a joint Zdf venture with Beta Film. Prior to this, she shepherded the Berlinale Series – the Berlin Film Festival’s TV sibling – over four years. Under her watch, the series grew, issuing its first Awards, launching a market-skewing Series Market Selects strand and expanding to showcase content from regions such as Latin America and China. Berlin subsequently reduced the size of its series sidebar.

She also worked...

Spooky season has passed, and across the realm all the ghosts and goblins are returning to their slumber. October had a lot of great fantasy and science fiction book releases, so many that there's no way you, I, or anyone else has read them all. But time waits for no one and neither do book publishers, who are launching a whole new volley of titles at our bookshelves this November. After all, it is still pumpkin spice season, which means that it's perfect for curling up with a good story!

As we do most every month here at Winter Is Coming, we've rounded up a bunch of the hottest fantasy and science fiction books hitting shelves this month. And there are a lot of books coming out in November. From cozy fantasies to epic sagas, from sci-fi horror to space opera, from debut novels to highly-anticipated sequels, there's a wide...

Note: This story contains spoilers from the “9-1-1” Season 8 premiere.

“9-1-1” has cultivated a reputation for kicking off seasons with some impressive disasters. There was Season 2’s earthquake, Season 5’s LA blackout and Season 7’s sinking cruise ship. And who could ever forget the three-episode tsunami that opened Season 3? But Season 8’s Bee-nado may just fly to the top of this wild list.

“I was talking to Ryan Murphy, and he really loved the whole riff on ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ last season. He was like, ‘What are some other great ’70s disaster movies?’ And I’m like, ‘”The Swarm,”‘ which is maybe the worst one ever,” series showrunner co-creator and executive producer Tim Minear told TheWrap.

Minear does not recommend “anyone” sit down and watch Irwin Allen’s box office bomb about a swarm of killer bees that are on the verge of invading Texas. “I threw that out there,...

Exclusive: Goodfellas is expanding its footprint into Spain in a new production venture with prolific local producer Enrique López Lavigne aimed at producing ambitious projects with Spanish talent with international appeal.

Bannered Goodapatxe – in a nod to Lavigne’s Apache Films company, which he runs alongside El Studio – the venture aims to get two to three productions off the ground a year.

Details of the first projects are under wraps, but the partners have revealed they are in development on a Spanish historic film noir, a western and science fiction picture and four additional genre feature films directed by young Spanish authors.

Lavigne has been a driving force in the Spanish independent cinema scene for more than 30 years.

He started out as a film buyer for Canal Plus, before moving into distribution at Sogecine. He branched into producing in the late 1990s, taking credits on a host of early films...

Production has begun on “Merteuila,” a new French original series for Max adapted from Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 18th century classic novel “Dangerous Liaisons.”

Directed by by Jessica Palud and created by Jean-Baptiste Delfaon, the show stars Anamaria Vartolomei (playing Isabelle de Merteuil), Diane Kruger (Madame de Rosemonde), Vincent Lacoste (Vicomte de Valmont) and Lucas Bravo (Comte de Gercourt). It’s produced by Clément Birnbaum and Joachim Nahum of Nabi Productions (Ugc Group) and Marie Guillaumond of Felicita Films (Newen Studios Group).

Filming is now underway in Normandy, France and will run until December. The ambitious show will stream on Max where the platform in available. The service launched in June in France and will soon roll out its first French series original, “The Confidante,” a psychological thriller (previously called “The Mythomaniac of the Bataclan”) based on a true story, starring Laure Calamy (“The Origins of Evil”) as a woman...

The new season of 9-1-1 premieres in three weeks. Details about the upcoming season are slowly trickling in, and it is now clear that the opening emergency for Season 8 will be bees lots of bees. Los Angeles is in for something different when a swarm poses a threat no one could have ever anticipated. This disaster seems to be inspired by Irwin Allen's 1978 film, The Swarm. The difference is that instead of scientists and a military task force, the 118 will have to save the day. A new poster for the season has been released, and apart from the emergency, it also reveals the number of episodes it spans.

After concluding his acclaimed seven-season run as Dr. Shaun Murphy in ABCs medical drama, The Good Doctor, Freddie Highmore has found another compelling role to disappear into. He is set to star alongside Keeley Hawes, known for her roles in hit shows like Bodyguard and Orphan Black: Echoes, in a pulse-pounding international espionage thriller for Prime Video, titled The Assassin.

The Assassin follows the story of a former assassin named Julie, played by Hawes, who is living on a remote Greek island when she is visited by her estranged son, Edward, played by Highmore. Grappling with his identity, he is forced to team up with his mother when an assassin from Julies past reemerges and threatens to destroy their relationship altogether. The official plotline for the six-episode series reads:

Secluded on a remote Greek island, retired assassin Julie (Hawes) has a somewhat thorny reunion with her estranged son, Edward (Highmore), visiting from England.

After a five season run of playing Norman Bates on the TV series Bates Motel, Freddie Highmore moved on to playing the character Shaun Murphy on seven seasons of The Good Doctor – and now that The Good Doctor has wrapped up, Highmore has signed on for his next TV series gig. Deadline reports that Highmore is set to star in the Prime Video series The Assassin alongside Keeley Hawes, whose credits include Orphan Black: Echoes and Line of Duty.

Coming from the minds of Harry and Jack Williams, the creators of The Missing and its spinoff Baptiste, The Assassin will tell the following story: Secluded on a remote Greek island, retired assassin Julie (Hawes) has a somewhat thorny reunion with her estranged son, Edward (Highmore), visiting from England. Armed with questions around new information on his paternity, Edward battles to find the right time to speak to his frustratingly distant mother.

Freddie Highmore has found his first post-Good Doctor role, and it’s a far cry from Dr. Shaun Murphy.

Highmore will star opposite Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard, Orphan Black: Echoes) in the Prime Video thriller The Assassin, which the pair will also exec-produce. It’s currently set to stream in the United Kingdom and Ireland, at least initially.

More from TVLineMy Lady Jane Cancelled at Prime VideoMatthew Fox to Headline Victor the Assassin Adaptation in the Works at MaxRings of Power: Sauron and Galadriel Clash (Again) in New Season 2 Trailer - Watch

The six-episode project stars Hawes as Julie,...

Keeley Hawes and Freddie Highmore will lead a new Amazon Prime Video series entitled The Assassin.

Written by Harry and Jack Williams’, the six-episode series has commenced filming in Greece. It follows a retired assassin called Julie, played by Hawes (Bodyguard, Scoop) who, while living a secluded life on a remote Greek island, has a somewhat thorny reunion with Highmore (The Good Doctor, Bates Motel), portraying her estranged son Edward.

“Armed with questions around new information on his paternity, Edward battles to find the right time to speak to his frustratingly distant mother,” a plot synopsis reads. “But, when the moment finally presents itself, things take a deadly turn as Julie’s dangerous past catches up with her and they are forced to flee the island and go on the run together.”

The series is produced by award-winning production company Two Brothers Pictures (The Tourist, Boat Story, Fleabag) in association...

Lionsgate is developing a film adaptation of one of Stephen King's earliest novels, The Long Walk. Several new cast members were just announced, one of which Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin and Summer School fans will recognize! Jordan Gonzalez, who plays Ash in the Max series, is one of seven new additions to the movie's cast.

Apart from Gonzalez, Deadline report that the movie will also star Philip Seymour Hoffman's son Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza), David Jonsson (Industry), Garrett Wareing (Ransom Canyon), Tut Nyuot (The Witcher: Blood Origin), Charlie Plummer (Looking for Alaska), Ben Wang (Mean Girls), Joshua Odjick (The Swarm), and Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo Rabbit), though everyone's roles currently remain under wraps. Odjick is also set to star in another King project, the It prequel series Welcome to Derry for HBO.

let’s go for a walk...

Exclusive: Lionsgate has commenced production on The Long Walk, its adaptation of the 1979 novel from Stephen King, starring Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson, adding seven to the cast.

The newcomers are Garrett Wareing (Ransom Canyon), Tut Nyuot (The Witcher: Blood Origin), Charlie Plummer (National Anthem), Ben Wang (American Born Chinese), Jordan Gonzalez (Pretty Little Liars: Summer School), Joshua Odjick (Welcome to Derry), and Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo Rabbit). Details as to their roles are under wraps.

Originally published under King’s pseudonym Richard Bachman, The Long Walk focuses on a dystopian America that is entertained by the Long Walk — a competition in which 50 teenage boys walk without rest. Each competitor must keep walking faster than three miles per hour — or risk being eliminated.

Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) is directing from a script by Jt Mollner. Lawrence is also producing the project through his company about:blank,...

1978's The Swarm was called the worst movie ever. This was the case in spite of the fact that it starred MIchael Caine, Henry Fonda, and seven other Oscar nominees. The movie's 9% Rotten Tomatoes score belies its quality, though it still has entertainment value.

The 1978 movie The Swarm, which features a star-studded cast that includes Henry Fonda, Michael Caine, and many other Oscar winners and major celebrities, has been called "the worst movie ever." This is an astonishing fact considering the track record of its cavalcade of major performers. Critical reception for movies featuring these stars has generally been high. In fact, on Rotten Tomatoes, only 10 of Fonda's 41 pre-1978 movies later received Rotten scores.

Michael Caine had also only had 10 Rotten movies before The Swarm. While the iconic star's career has varied wildly between beloved classics and outright flops, he is best known for well-received movies as varied as the...

Nico Hofmann and Jan Mojto, two leading figures in the German TV industry, on Friday unveiled the upcoming slate for their new joint venture, announced earlier this year. Their company plans to make big-budget, high-end series out of Germany for the international market.

The first slate of projects includes several novel and nonfiction adaptations. They include: Tilmann Lahme’s Die Manns – Geschichte einer Familie, a biography of the legendary Mann family, including noble prize winner Thomas Mann and his brother Heinrich Mann, which is to be produced as a six-part television series set in the 1920s and told through the eyes of the younger generation, particularly the kindred spirits and eldest siblings Klaus and Erika Mann.

The group plans to adapt European Book Prize winner Maxim Leo’s best-selling novel Wo wir zu Hause sind and his latest book, Wir werden jung sein, as a limited series. The first is...

Exclusive: More partners have joined Ard’s German political thriller series Dangerous Truth (Das Zweite Attentat).

Munich-based distributor OneGate Media and Bravado Equity, a subsidiary of Eric Welbers’ Bravado Media, have boarded as global distributor and gap financier, respectively. They join co-production partners Eikon Media, Wdr and Ard Degeto Film along with Deal Productions in Luxembourg for Ard.

Inspired by true events that took place in the lead up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the six-part, German-language drama centers around 35-year-old Alexander Jaromin, who for 20 years has been living with his mother in Athens under assumed identities in the witness protection program of the Federal Criminal Police Office (Bka) after his father and sister were killed in a terrorist attack. Tormented by the unknown, Alexander begins a desperate search to uncover the truth and soon finds himself under the close watch of the Federal Intelligence Service, with his...

Gears of War: E-Day marks a long-awaited return to a widely beloved franchise that’s been with us for almost two decades. The recently released trailer has pumped up fans, and who can blame them?

Amid all the hubbub, there’s been a humorous suggestion on the game’s subreddit that’s sparked an intriguing idea for a new gameplay mechanic that could make getting downed the most fun part of the game.

Gears of War: E-Day Has Suggestions Pouring in by the Minute Gears of War: E-Day needs this one ‘weapon.’ | Credit: The Coalition

The spark for this idea came from a playful post on the game’s subreddit. After watching the Gears of War: E-Day trailer, a fan jokingly requested that a TV be included as a weapon in the game.

This isn’t completely random. You might remember, but in the trailer, a member of The Swarm gets smashed by a TV,...

As Brazil rebuilds as Latin America’s major production force, German film-tv giant Beta Film has made its first move outside Europe, backing Janeiro Studios, based in Rio and led by former Beta Film top exec Koby Gal Raday and Rio Fest head Ilda Santiago.

A fourth partner will be Brazilian producer Mayra Faour Auad’s MyMama Entertainment.

Gal Raday will serve as CEO, Santiago as MD.

The Studios’ launch catches Brazil’s film and TV in the first full flush of growth, sluiced by public funding with more quite possibly on the way.

Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva unveiled plans at Rio’s Quanta Studios last week to invest R$1.6 billion ($295 million) in Brazilian films and series in 2025. The sector is already receiving $516 million in Paul Gustavo Law funding, in a measure greenlit before Lula came into power.

Janeiro Studios tackles head-on Brazil’s biggest challenge as a film-tv power.

Prolific author Anthony Horowitz has scripted mystery drama Nine Bodies In A Mexican Morgue, here are the details.

Anthony Horowitz is perhaps best known for creating the Alex Rider franchise, which so far comprises fourteen novels, seven short stories, a critically maligned 2006 film and a popular television drama on Amazon Prime, the third and final series of which aired last month. He has also written many standalone novels and the terrific Horowitz Horror books of horror stories for older children.

However, he is just as prolific writing for the screen, creating the brilliant time travel drama Crime Traveller, which starred Michael French and Red Dwarf star Chloe Annett, ITV drama Foyle’s War and the television adaptation of his novel Magpie Murders.

His latest series is Nine Bodies In A Mexican Morgue, which has been acquired by the BBC. The synopsis reads as follows:

A plane carrying a small group of passengers,...

Luke Macfarlane isn’t the only Amish stud at Lifetime: Ryan McPartlin (Chuck, L.A.’s Finest) will star in and executive-produce the cabler’s Ripped from the Headlines movie Amish Affair, premiering Saturday, July 6 at 8/7c.

In the film, “Hannah (played by Upload’s Mackenize Cardwell) moves in with a charismatic Amish leader, Aaron (McPartlin), to help with his ailing wife,” reads the official synopsis. “Seeking refuge after leaving her Amish community, Hannah is grateful to Aaron and his wife for opening their home to her and giving her work but as she tends to her household chores,...

Exclusive: Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired Northern American rights for Joachim A. Lang’s historical drama Goebbels and The Führer (aka Führer and Seducer) for a fall 2024 theatrical and digital release.

Beta Cinema, which launched sales on the feature at the EFM and brokered the North America deal, has also posted new deals for France (Condor Entertainment), Hungary (Ads), Bulgaria (Beta Film) and Greece (Tfg).

As previously announced, the film has also sold to Spain (A Contracorriente), Scandinavia (Mis Label), Japan (At Entertainment) and Australia & New Zealand (Moving Story Entertainment). Wild Bunch will release the film in German-speaking territories on July 11.

The drama follows the rise and fall of Joseph Goebbels in the final seven years as Adolf Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda.

While Hitler is at the height of his power, Goebbels is the creator of the pictures of the flag-waving crowds and antisemitic films “Jud Süß” and “Der ewige Jude...

Andrea Guo is turning heads after appearing in Amazon Prime Video's German language drama Maxton Hall. 

Guo plays Lin Wang, Ruby Bell's (played by Harriet Herbig-Matten) best friend and a fellow student at the prestigious private school at the heart of the new streaming romance series.

The Chinese-German actress has become a staple of both the big and small screen in her home country over the last few years, appearing in hits like The Swarm, German Genius, and Hausen.

Read full article on The Direct.

Apple TV’s Constellation has been grounded after one season.

The psychological sci-fi thriller, which premiered on Feb. 21 and spanned eight episodes, has been cancelled, sources tell TVLine, and won’t see a Season 2.

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Deadline first reported on the series’ snuffing.

Created/written by Peter Harness (Wallander, The War of the Worlds), Constellation starred Noomi Rapace (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) as Jo Ericsson, an astronaut for the...

One of Hollywood’s greatest living actors, Michael Caine, is sending his fans into a tizzy over a photo posted to his personal Twitter account. The image depicts an impressive stack of Caine’s films on DVD and Blu-ray, encapsulating the highs and lows of his storied career as an entertainer. While gems like Get Carter, The Last Valley, and Harry Brown adorn the pile, cinematic blights like On Deadly Ground, Jaws: The Revenge, and The Island sit among the crowd.

The variety of films in Caine’s collection speaks volumes about the actor’s sense of humor and accomplishment. While some actors tend to want to cast their cinematic sins to the fiery depths, Caine proudly displays several of his biggest box office bombs and critically panned misfires. For example, Peter Benchley’s The Island is an insane bit of cinema featuring Caine as a kidnap victim of inbred pirates.

Eco-horror isn’t a sub-genre that gets talked about a ton unfortunately. It can be anything from animals attacking due to their sudden craving of human flesh like Grizzly or even just due to man not putting enough respect on the name of nature like in Long Weekend. The hey day of these is undoubtedly the 70s with things like Prophecy, The Swarm, Piranha, Phase 4, and a few other standouts. While the output certainly slowed down, there are more than a few standouts in the late 90s and even 21st century. We can’t seem to stop screwing up the planet and as we do, we get reminded that the planet may just fight back in ways like what is shown in Day After Tomorrow or to a hilarious degree in The Happening. A unique one that failed to make its budget back, even with good reviews and scores, is...

In 2023, science fiction series reached new heights with believable worlds and fantastic technology, showcasing the genre's best stories. Streaming giants like Peacock, HBO, and Apple TV+ released faithful adaptations of classic properties, while network TV channels like CW and AMC produced their own original series. Standout series in 2023 included "Invasion" season 2, "Hello Tomorrow!" season 1, and "Twisted Metal" season 1, each offering unique storytelling and captivating visuals.

2023 was a fantastic year for science fiction, as reflected by the landscape of televised series that were released over the course of the year's broadcast season. In the past, sci-fi may have been considered a more niche genre, particularly when it came to TV. Oftentimes, more limited TV budgets have constrained the special effects necessary to convey many sci-fi stories. Today, even the lowest-dollar science fiction offerings are able to conjure believable worlds and fantastic technology representing the best stories the genre has to offer.

The Doctor's memory loss storyline was cut short due to Star Trek: Voyager's episodic format, disappointing Robert Picardo. Voyager's fear of serialization hindered character development despite fans wanting more continuity. The Doctor's memory loss had potential for in-depth exploration, but Voyager's use of the "reset button" limited storytelling.

Star Trek: Voyager killed one of the Doctor's (Robert Picardo) best storylines in season 3, causing Picardo to express his disappointment that it wasn't continued. The USS Voyager's Emh was one of the most popular characters in Star Trek: Voyager's cast, thanks mainly to his unique origins and diverse character arc. As a hologram who gained sentience during the show's run, the Doctor filled a franchise niche previously held by other popular characters like Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Many of the Doctor's storylines on Voyager revolved around him gaining humanity. However, a season 3 episode featured the character losing...

Uncork’d Entertainment rolls out a black carpet of death with their new creature feature The Deadly Swarm, which flies onto Digital and On Demand outlets today, April 2nd.

In the tradition of films like The Swarm (1978) and Black Swarm (2007), The Deadly Swarm comes from producer Tyler James.

From writer and director David Gregory (Krampus: The Return), Uncorkd’s The Deadly Swarm follows a group of cash desperate friends who attend a medical trial retreat.

“Lured under false pretenses and run by the suspicious Dr. Feldman, little do they know that the doctor has unwittingly created a race of killer flies, and they are hungry for blood.”

Uncork’d previews, “The Deadly Swarm offers genre enthusiasts good old-fashioned fun with inventive effects. For fans of Gremlins, The Howling, and Critters, it promises a nostalgic yet fresh take on creature horror.” Of course what they don’t mention is that unlike those aforementioned classics,...

Ahead of its launch in France, Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming service Max unveiled at Series Mania Festival its pipeline of ambitious local scripted projects, “Malditos” (working title), the adaptation of “Living with our deads,” the memoir of Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur, and

“Malditos,” created by Jean Charles Hue (“Eat Your Bones”) and Olivier Prieur (“The Accident”), is an action-packed crime thriller revolving around the leader of a Gypsy community and her two sons who struggle to save their clan threatened with eviction by rising waters in Southern France. The series is produced by Eve Muller and Noor Sadar at Mediawan-owned White Lion Films, was penned by Hue, Prieur and Maya Haffar (“En thérapie”). Hue is directing the first five episode and Cécilia Verheyden (“Undercover”) is directing the remaining two.

Max has also boarded the series adaptation of the book “Living with our deads” (“Vivre avec nos morts”), which is...

Max has unveiled a trio of French shows ahead of launch, with commissioning head Vera Peltekian saying “we don’t want to do a French Succession or White Lotus.“

Peltekian and French scripted boss Clémentine Bobin unveiled series about the Bataclan attacks, the gypsy community and an adaptation of a memoir by a French rabbi.

The previously-announced Bataclan series has been given title Black Lies and will co-star Laure Calamy and César-winning The Goldman Case actor Arieh Worthalter alongside Les Misérables’ Alexis Manenti and Mother And Son’s Annabelle Lengronne.

The show tells the story of a woman who cons her way into a victim’s association following the deadly attack in 2015. Produced by StudioFact Stories with June Films, the psychological thriller is directed by Just Philippot and written by Fanny Burdino, Jean-Baptiste Delafon, Samuel Doux and Alexandre Kauffmann. The story is loosely based on the non-fiction...

Exclusive: Artist International Group has signed Swedish actor, screenwriter and producer Alexander Karim for management.

Most recently, Karim was seen starring in Frank Doelger’s eco-thriller limited series The Swarm, an eight-parter considered one of Europe’s biggest TV drama swings in some time, at a reported budget of €40 million. Making a splash when it premiered on Zdf in Germany last year, the show’s home in the U.S. is The CW.

Previously starring in three seasons of FX’s political drama Tyrant, Karim also played the lead in The Lawyer, which was Sweden’s most-watched series of 2019. Other recent TV credits include Viaplay’s The Box, a supernatural character-driven anthology series which had him starring opposite Anna Friel and Peter Stormare, and Amazon’s The Wheel of Time.

Past film credits for Karim include Kathryn Bigelow’s Best Picture contender Zero Dark Thirty and the spy thriller Dying of the Light...

Note: This story contains spoilers from the “9-1-1” Season 7 premiere.

The Season 7 premiere of “9-1-1” opened in a therapist’s office. In hushed tones, LAPD patrol sergeant Athena Grant (Angela Bassett) explained that she’s scared to go on a cruise with her husband for a very “9-1-1” reason: She was traumatized as a child by the 1972 ABC disaster thriller “The Poseidon Adventure.” As the flashback unfolds, scenes from the Irwin Allen disaster movie flash on screen along with a vintage ABC logo.

It’s a silly, so-on-the-nose-it’s-brilliant moment that’s perfect for one of television’s wildest shows. “9-1-1” is back, and it’s found a new home on ABC.

“That was so important to me,” series creator, writer and executive producer Tim Minear told TheWrap about the film nod. Dubbed the “Master of Disaster,” Allen defined the disaster film genre through movies such as “The Towering Inferno” and “The Swarm.

Seriesmakers, a joint initiative of Series Mania, Europe’s biggest TV festival, and European film-tv powerhouse Beta Group, has revealed the 10 top-notch project lineup of the second edition of its novel and high-powered mentoring program for filmmakers making their TV creator debut.

This year’s Seriesmakers features in development drama series from Oscar winner Kevin Macdonald (“George Blake”), behind “The Last King Of Scotland,” and from Finnish director Mikko Myllylahti, who burst onto the scene co-writing with Juho Kuosmanen the latter’s “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Makki,” a 2016 Cannes Un Certain Regard winner.

Also in the mix is the highly courted Kaouther Ben Hania, a double Oscar nominee for the “compelling, ambitious hybrid” “Four Daughters,” said Variety, in the doc category and the “The Man Who Sold His Skin” (2020), Tunisia’s entry in international feature.

In all, however, nine of the ten directors winning berths this...

European giant Beta Film, known for ambitious titles such as “Babylon Berlin” and “The Swarm,” has shared with Variety in exclusivity a first-look picture of 1o-part series “Rise of the Raven,” which it hails as “one of the most epic European TV productions of all time.”

“Rise of the Raven” weighs in as a passion project of Hungarian-born and Canada-based producer Robert Lantos, behind “Sunshine,” “The Sweet Hereafter,” “Barney’s Version,” “Eastern Promises” and “Crimes of the Future.”

A highlight at Beta Film’s showcase this Tuesday at the London TV Screenings, “Rise of the Raven” turns on the extraordinary feat of Hungarian army commander Janos Hunyadi, played by discovery Gellért L. Kádár, who in 1456 won a bloody, brutal Battle of Belgrade against a vast Ottoman force twice the size of his troops who were often farm labourers armed with just slings and patriotic fervor.

Hunyadi largely halted a full Ottoman...

Exclusive: Ahead of its bow at Series Mania, French sci-fi drama Sea Shadows been picked up for distribution.

France TV Distribution has acquired rights to the show, which is from Mintee Studio and Thalie Images and is for the sale house’s stablemate, France 2.

The series, originally known as Rivages, will follow a marine scientist who returns to her hometown of Fécamp to research a mysterious shipwreck and finds mysterious phenomena occurring at sea that are stopping fishermen from doing their jobs. She soon realizes that an underwater presence is about to upset the fragile balance between man and nature.

The project is one of several that were selected for Unifrance’s Coming Next From France presentation at next month’s Series Mania in Lille.

Fleur Geffrier, Guillaume Labbé, Thierry Godard, Jean-Marc Barr, Younès Boucif, Jonas Bloquet, Anne Loiret, Lucia Passaniti and Olivia Cote star in the six-part ecological thriller series,...

Two heavyweights of German television and film are uniting.

Nico Hofmann and Jan Mojto are teaming with Jan Wünschmann, a producer at Mojto’s company Beta, to create films and TV series in Germany and Europe. Projects will be targeted at the international market.

Hofmann, was the longtime boss of German production giant UFA, and Mojto said they are “connected by half a lifetime of producing” title such as TV event series The Tunnel in the early 2000s and newer series such as Generation War, Dresden, The Tower and The Same Sky.

“Jan Mojto and I have been close colleagues and friends for more than 20 years – our eye for programming, uncompromising quality, and passion for our profession unites us,” said Hofmann. “It is the next logical step in my career to join forces and produce together with Beta Film. The individuals and their creativity are the building blocks for a long-lasting bond.

Iconic German film and TV executive Jan Mojto is launching a partnership with longstanding friend and UFA head Nico Hofmann that will produce German and European series and films for the international market.

They are joined in the unnamed venture by Beta producer Jan Wünschmann.

The partnership was announced Wednesday, on the eve of the annual Berlin Film Festival. No projects were disclosed.

Hofmann and Mojto are connected by half a lifetime of producing. With “The Tunnel”, the duo pioneered the TV event genre in Germany in the early 2000s. Since then, two dozen collaborative and internationally successful television and film productions have followed. These include hits “Generation War,” “Dresden,” “The Tower” and “The Same Sky.”

“This partnership is the fulfillment of a long-held wish. Nico Hofmann is one of the best German producers; He is a gifted storyteller. His professional and personal qualities, which I have known for more than 25 years,...

Germany’s Beta Cinema has racked up multiple territory deals for its Joseph Goebbels biopic Führer and Seducer ahead of the film’s premiere at the European Film Market in Berlin later this week. Beta signed all-rights territorial deals with Spain (A Contracorriente), Portugal (Films4You), Scandinavia (Mis Label), Benelux (Dutch Film Works), Czech Republic (Donart Film), former Yugoslavia (Discovery) Japan (At Entertainment) and Australia & New Zealand (Moving Story Entertainment) for the feature. Wild Bunch will release the film in the German-speaking territories.

Directed by filmmaker/writer/historian Joachim A. Lang, who helmed 2018’s Mack The Knife — Brecht’s Threepenny Film with Lars Eidinger, Führer and Seducer stars Robert Stadlober as Goebbels, Austrian actor Fritz Karl (Sisi) as Adolf Hitler and Franziska Weisz (The Swarm) as Goebbels’ wife Magda. Stadlober also stars in Josef Hader’s Panorama title Andrea Gets A Divorce, which will have its world premiere at the Berlinale this year.

Exclusive: Beta Cinema has unveiled a raft of key territory pre-sales for Joachim A. Lang’s Joseph Goebbels biopic Führer and Seducer ahead of its market premiere at the EFM this week.

The company has sealed deals to Spain (A Contracorriente), Portugal (Films4You), Scandinavia (Mis Label), Benelux (Dutch Film Works), Czech Republic (Donart Film), former Yugoslavia (Discovery) Japan (At Entertainment) and Australia & New Zealand (Moving Story Entertainment).

Wild Bunch will release the film in German-speaking territories.

Führer and Seducer follows Goebbels in his last seven years at Adolf Hitler’s side, as his Minister of Propaganda.

While Hitler is at the height of his power, Goebbels is the creator of the pictures of the flag-waving crowds and anti-Semitic films “Jud Süß” and “Der ewige Jude”, priming the German people for the mass murder of the Jews.

The drama follows Goebbels as he then attempts to whip up continued support for...

Exclusive: Filming is underway on long-gestating European thriller series The Kollective (6 x 60′), which we can reveal will star Natascha McElhone (Californication), Celine Buckens (Showtrial), Felix Mayr (Unorthodox), Gregg Sulkin (Marvel’s Runaways), Grégory Montel (Call My Agent), Karel Roden (A Spy Amongst Friends), Cassiopée Mayance (The Clearstream Affair), Martha Canga Antonio (Lupin) and Ralph Amoussou (Transatlantic).

Produced by Submarine (Apollo 10 ½) and created by Leonardo Fasoli (Gomorrah), Maddalena Ravagli (Gomorrah) and Submarine’s Femke Wolting, the series was commissioned by The European Alliance and will be distributed worldwide by A+E Media Group, with Hulu coming aboard for U.S. distribution.

Inspired by the investigative journalist group Bellingcat, the series will span Europe from Budapest and St. Petersburg in the East to London in the West. It will follow a group of intrepid young citizen journalists who, after a sudden tragedy, find themselves sucked into a web of government lies and corruption.

Once upon a time, there was the Swedish queen of crime Camilla Läckberg, steadily delivering international best-selling adult/children’s books, cook books and song lyrics.

Some of her books have turned into series –“The Fjällbacka Murders” – or soon will be – “The Golden Age,’ optioned by Legendary Entertainment.

One day she met Swedish star actor Alexander Karim while shooting the Swedish show “Stars in the Castle” (“Stjärnorna på slotet”).

“We started talking TV, movies, creative ideas and immediately hit it off!” Läckberg tells Variety, in a zoom interview ahead of Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market. There, her executive produced thriller “The Dog,” starring Alexander Karim and helmed by his brother Baker Karim (“Malcolm”), is having its market world premiere.

The Karim brothers and Läckberg are, moreover, now ‘partners in crime’ in Bad Flamingo Studios (Bfs), a Stockholm-based film and TV production outfit founded to “break the film industry’s norms and barriers.

Noomi Rapace returns from outer space to a sliiiiightly different world in the trailer for Constellation, a new Apple TV+ sci-fi drama due for arrival on Wednesday, Feb. 21 (with its first three episodes, followed by weekly releases).

Created and written by Peter Harness (Wallander, The War of the Worlds), Constellation stars Swedish actress Rapace (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) as Jo, an astronaut for the European Space Agency who returns to Earth after a disastrous mission, only to discover that key pieces of her life seem to be… different.

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Malia Obama is bringing her short film The Heart to Sundance. The project is screening as part of the U.S. short fiction films at the Park City, Utah, festival.

Obama, who is credited as Malia Ann, wrote and directed the project, which is about a grieving son, whose mother left him an unusual request in her will. It debuted Wednesday and will screen throughout the week.

“The film is about lost objects and lonely people and forgiveness and regret, but I also think it works hard to uncover where tenderness and closeness can exist in these things,” said Obama in a video. “We hope you enjoy the film and it makes you feel a bit less lonely, or at least reminds you not to forget about the people who are.”

The Heart was previously screened at Telluride, as well as the Chicago International Film Festival, where it was recognized...

The Screen Actors’ Guild Awards are just around the corner. As such, we’re taking a last-minute comb through our odds to finalize our predictions. In this process, we’ve come across a plethora of performers who could secure their first-ever SAG bid. Now, some names in our odds chart have never been nominated for a solo award but have been nominated at SAG as part of a cast for Best Ensemble. We’re focusing on the thespians who have never been nominated at all. Here are just some of those performers we think are set to earn their first-ever SAG nominations.

Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”) — Best Actress

Lily Gladstone stars in Apple Original Films’ “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which tells the heartbreaking and devastating true story of the murder of Osage tribe members in the USA during the 1920s. While Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro...

NBC’s trippy sci-fi thriller La Brea just unveiled the first batch of season three photos ahead of its January 9, 2024 premiere. The network also released a short teaser trailer and confirmed the upcoming third season will be the series’ final season.

The final season kicks off with an episode titled “Sierra.” Per NBC: After the clearing’s destroyed in a dinosaur attack, the Survivors must find a new home to live. Gavin discovers a clue about where Eve has gone, but tracking the lead down results in more tragic consequences.

Season three will air on Tuesdays at 9pm Et/Pt. Returning cast includes Eoin Macken as Gavin Harris, Zyra Gorecki as Izzy Harris, Chiké Okonkwo as Ty Coleman, Rohan Mirchandaney as Scott Israni, Lily Santiago as Veronica Castillo, Josh Mckenzie as Lucas, and Jon Seda as Dr. Samuel Velez. Nicholas Gonzalez plays Levi Delgado, Jack Martin is Josh Harris, Veronica St. Clair is Riley Velez,...

Dominique Fishback shares that there won't be a season 2 of the show Swarm. However, Fishback is Ok with the season 1 finale being the end. Fishback believes that ending the show on a high note is important, and going back for a second season might not have the same impact or shock value as the initial season.

Swarm season 2 has gotten a discouraging update. The Prime Video show, which was co-created by Donald Glover, followed Andrea "Dre" Greene (Dominique Fishback), a young woman who is part of an intense pop music fandom known as The Swarm. Her obsession with Beyoncé-esque starlet Ni'Jah (Nirine S. Brown) leads to dangerous consequences for herself and the people around her. The ensemble cast of the show, which premiered season 1 in full this March, also includes Chloe Bailey, Damson Idris, Rory Culkin, and Paris Jackson.

People recently spoke with Dominique Fishback while in attendance at the Gotham Awards.

Two more acquired series have gotten the chop at The CW.

Canadian sitcom Run the Burbs and British comedy Everyone Else Burns have both been pulled from the network’s Thursday lineup, TVLine has confirmed. Through at least Nov. 30, they’ve been replaced by reruns of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and The Great American Joke Off.

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