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Exclusive: TF1 manga adaptation Cat’s Eyes has landed a Season 2.

Based on the work of Tsukasa Hōjō, the French art heist series from Newen Connect follows three estranged sisters – Alexia, Tam, and Sylia. They reunite and decide to risk everything to steal a work of art belonging to their father – who disappeared 12 years earlier in a mysterious fire at his art gallery – in the hope of finally understanding what happened to him.

Starring Camille Lou, Contance Labbé, and Claire Romain, Season 1 aired on TF1 then Prime Video in France, while Germany’s Zdf also co-produced. Prime Video is not attached to Season 2 as of yet.

The Big Band Story-produced show’s first season has already pre-sold to 32 territories internationally including Switzerland (Rts), Belgium (Rtl) and Italy (Rai), and will likely be in the conversation at the upcoming London TV Screenings.

Newen and TF1 talked up the show’s ratings. Season...

The national broadcaster Rai is turning Mario Tobino’s novel Le Libere Donne di Magliano into a television series in Italy. Set in a Tuscan psychiatric institution during WWII, the drama promises to delve into themes of women’s resilience and societal problems. The series, produced by Endemol Shine Italy and Rai Fiction, stars Lino Guanciale, Grace Kicaj, Gaia Messerklinger, and Fabrizio Biggio in leading roles. Endemol Italy’s head, Leonardo Pasquinelli, praised the project as “a powerful narrative of resilience, freedom, and self-worth,” underlining its historical and contemporary relevance.

The international television market is brimming with activity. At the Unifrance TV Export Awards in Paris, various productions were recognized for their brilliance. Newen Connect’s art heist drama Cat’s Eyes gained critical acclaim, with CEO Rodolphe Buet applauding its high-quality storytelling and bold vision.

In Australia, Sbs made waves by acquiring a sizable collection of international content from Beta Film.

Rai Adapting Mario Tobino’s Tuscan World War Two Novel

Italy’s Rai is adapting Mario Tobino’s influential novel Le Libere Donne di Magliano- Mondadori Libri. Endemol Shine Italy and Rai Fiction are producing the adaptation, which is set in Tuscany during the Second World War and follows a psychiatrist challenging the repressive confines of a women’s psychiatric hospital. Within this microcosm of society, some women find solace and an unexpected sense of freedom within a restrictive society, while others are unjustly confined for defying societal norms. The series stars Lino Guanciale, Grace Kicaj, Gaia Messerklinger and Fabrizio Biggio. Endemol Italy boss Leonardo Pasquinelli said: “This co-production illustrates our strong partnership with Rai and our combined commitment to deliver high-quality, culturally significant stories. Le Libere Donne is a powerful narrative of resilience, freedom and self-worth, bridging period drama with contemporary relevance, showcasing the impactful work of Mario Tobino.

French film and television promotion group Unifrance announced the winners of its annual TV export awards on Monday, honoring the best-selling French television shows worldwide. Daniela Elstner, Executive Director of Unifrance, and Sarah Hemar, Director of Audiovisual, announced the winners of the 21st Unifrance TV Export Awards at the Trianon in Paris.

Cat’s Eyes, a live-action action series adaptation of Tsukasa Hōjō’s cult manga of the same name, won the drama series honor. The show, which Hōjō co-created with French producer Michel Catz, stars Camille Lou, Constance Labbé and Claire Romain as Alexia, Tam and Sylia — three sisters who run a Parisian café by day, and moonlight as notorious art thieves. The series airs on France on TF1 and Amazon Prime Video.

The prize for best-selling French animation series went to Xilam Animation for season 3 of Zig & Sharko, a series of cartoon shorts featuring the attempts of Zig,...

The American anime streaming landscape has never been more competitive. While anime used to be a niche product in America, today, all the major streaming platforms offer at least a handful of exclusive anime series, with the launch of each new release being treated as a big deal. Disney+ is one of the most fascinating examples of this, as while the platform does host some impressive anime series, the firm has been unable to cement itself as a popular anime distributor, with many of its titles getting overlooked by fans. However, a recently announced reboot may be about to change that, allowing Disney+ to become a massive player in the anime streaming scene.

On November 20th, 2024, the Japanese Disney+ Twitter account announced that a reboot of Cat's Eye will launch on the service.

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Paris-based distributor Newen Connect has agreed a further three-year deal with global production and financing studio Anton.

The deal sees Newen Connect receiving financial investment in exchange for Anton gaining shared distribution revenues from its slate.

Newen said the deal would help it develop and support ambitious high end European programmes.

It is the third extension to the agreement between Newen Connect and Anton that first began in 2019.

Anton’s investment has helped Newen to develop series with Newen’s inhouse labels and production partnerships with companies including Ucg and Jude Law’s Riff Raff Entertainment. It has invested in...

Newen Studios Renews Financial Pact With Anton

Newen Connect has renewed its pact with global production and financing studio Anton for a further three years. This sees the Newen Studios subsidiary receive investment in exchange for Anton gaining shared distribution revenue. It is the third extension to the agreement, which began in 2019, and means Newen Connect will now focus on developing further series, while Anton gets to deepen its ties with Newen labels such as Ucg and Jude Law’s Riff Raff Entertainment. To datum the pact has led to Anton investing in more than 70 productions from across Europe, including the recently launched French thriller series Cat’s Eyes, plus Swedish political thriller 8 Months and upcoming sci-fi film We Come in Peace. “Newen Connect has significant plans both in the range of the projects we want to co-develop and invest in over the coming years… this partnership with Anton will...

Phantom thieves might be making a comeback in anime, if the recent announcement of Lupin the Third's first 2D movie in decades is any indication. For the uninitiated, Lupin the Third is a story about a master thief by the same name, grandson of fictional French gentleman thief Arsène Lupin. Lupin has a singular voice, bridging comedy and adventure with action, heart, and sex appeal. It's an essential formula in entertainment—because it works.

Debuting in 1967, the series would go on to become one of the most renowned and timeless anime franchises, with Lupin developing an iconic status in Japan and Italy and a devoted cult following elsewhere in the world. Lupin the Third has spawned countless movies, TV releases, and countless manga. Fans have even gotten in on the action, since Lupin's episodic format lends itself well to one-off stories that aren't "canon", per se. However, despite its prolific catalog of adventures,...

In 1992, New Line Cinema thought they had a surefire hit on their hands in the form of Stephen King's The Lawnmower Man. Having served as the author for countless bestsellers and the inspiration for numerous movie adaptations that became massive box office success stories, New Line couldn't have been happier to be in the Stephen King business. Then, everything went horrifyingly wrong.

When the final cut of The Lawnmower Man hit theaters, it bore such little resemblance to Stephen King's initial story that the master of horror was absolutely fuming. He was so angry that he decided to take action. King gathered together a collection of high-priced lawyers, sued New Line Cinema, and won. Little did King know that his association with The Lawnmower Man wasn't over yet.

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Dreamcatcher is one of Stephen King's best literary works,...

Peter and Bobby Farrelly's 2005 romantic comedy "Fever Pitch," based on the Nick Hornby novel, was about the relationship travails of a level-headed businesswoman named Lindsey (Drew Barrymore) as she attempted to date a funny and charming schoolteacher named Ben (Jimmy Fallon). Ben admits early in their courtship that he is a fan of the Boston Red Sox. Nay, not just a fan, but an embarrassingly devoted superfan who attends all their games. Lindsey doesn't know much about baseball, and she has to accept that, if she wants to keep seeing Ben, she'll have to attend many, many baseball games with him. She'll also have to follow his emotional ups and downs as his favorite team wins or loses.

Curiously, Hornby's original book wasn't about a baseball team, but Arsenal, an English football club. The title "Fever Pitch" makes more sense with baseball.

"Fever Pitch" was fine, and nothing more.

As 2024 draws to a close, Disney+ is announcing some impressive anime offerings for the year ahead. In the anime community, Disney+ is often sidelined in favor of other subscription services like Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll. Disney+ has always had mainstream offerings for anime lovers, hosting major series like Jujutsu Kaisen and Bleach. But as far as exclusives and originals go, Disney+ hasn't attained the same prestige as Netflix or Crunchyroll with fans.

In reality, Disney+ has been producing anime exclusives for a while now. They offered the niche hit Black Rock Shooter a follow-up in 2022 with Black Rock Shooter: Dawn Fall, and beloved classic Code Geass received a Disney+ exclusive film in 2024 called Code Geass: Roze of the Rebellion. Although anime has never been Disney+'s priority, a string of recent announcements confirm several new exclusives for the platform that could entice anime fans who are yet to try the service.

Tsukasa Hojo’s Cat’s Eye is making a comeback with a brand-new anime adaptation, nearly four decades after its original debut.

The new series is set to stream exclusively on Disney+ Star in 2025, as announced by Disney+ Japan on their official X account.

The creator Hojo shared his excitement and surprise about the new anime adaptation, and said that he was grateful to fans for supporting the series for so long.

“After nearly 40 years, ‘Cat’s Eye’ is being adapted into a new anime series. Recently, I’ve received offers from overseas to use the work, which made me realize that there are still people around the world who care about this story. When I first heard about this new adaptation, I was surprised, but above all, I feel deeply grateful to the fans who have supported the series for so long.

While I’m honestly a bit nervous about how...

A new anime series by Jujutsu Kaisen Season 1 director Sunghoo Park, also widely known for directing Ninja Kamui and The God of High School, is set to take the stage in 2025.

The release window for the upcoming Bullet/Bullet was recently announced as part of the Disney Content Showcase 2024, held on Nov. 21 (Sgt) at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Set to premiere in the summer of 2025, Bullet/Bullet will stream exclusively on Disney+, with a key visual, action-packed trailer and staff listing -- described by Japanese news outlet Oricon as a "gathering of masters" -- all now revealed for the first time.

Related February Will Be a Good Month for Jujutsu Kaisen Fans

Jujutsu Kaisen anime fans have much to look forward to in 2025, as the critically acclaimed "Gojo's Past" arc will be released on Blu-ray in February.

Jjk Director's New Bullet/Bullet Anime Gets First Trailer Ahead of...

Disney+ unveiled its expansion into Japanese unscripted content with Traveling with Snow Man (working title), alongside its launch of new Japanese originals including Bullet/Bullet and Cat’S Eye.

Additionally, Disney+ confirmed that the second season of Japanese live action original Gannibal will premiere on March 19, 2025.

Disney+ said that it will expand into Japanese unscripted content, in collaboration with Nippon TV.

The new partnership will see the launch of Japanese travel reality show, Traveling with Snow Man (working title) in 2025, featuring Japanese pop group Snow Man, who are represented by talent agency Starto Entertainment. The show will follow the J-pop group as they embark on an adventure.

“The new show builds on the growing enthusiasm amongst Japanese audiences towards unscripted content and exemplifies the shared ambitions of Disney, Nippon TV and Starto Entertainment to spotlight the most exciting talent from Japan to global audiences, and to cooperate in new and innovative ways,...

Cat's Eye , City Hunter author Tsukasa Hojo's another popular manga series in the 1980s, will receive a new anime adaptation on Disney Plus's Star brand in 2025. It was also revealed that Ado will cover the opening theme song for the first TV anime in 1983-1984, "Cat's Eye," originally performed by Anri . A special teaser movie using "Cat's Eye" sung by Ado has been streamed. "With the greatest respect, I covered the original theme song, 'Cat's Eye,' under the arrangement of Yuki Hayashi-san," said Ado. "When I sang the song, I respected Anri-san and mixed her 80's singing style with my own colors. How did you like it? It is a great honor for me to be involved as a singer in a beloved and legendary work that has returned to the present day with renewed brilliance. We hope this song conveys both new and nostalgic feelings.And together,...

Unifrance on Tuesday unveiled the nine nominees for its TV export awards, which honor the French television shows that have sold the most worldwide.

This year’s fiction contenders include Marie Antoinette, a historical epic on the iconic French queen, produced by Canal+ and the BBC and sold internationally by Banijay Rights; the art heist drama Cat’s Eyes, from TF1, Amazon Prime, Germany’s Zdf and Rai in Italy, which was a strong seller for Newen Connect at Mipcom in October; and Of Money and Blood, a crime thriller from Canal+ based on a real-life carbon tax swindle, which StudioCanal launched at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year.

In non-fiction, the France TV documentary Eiffel Tower: Building the Impossible, on the Eiffel Tower’s untold origin story, goes up against Newen Connect’s Russia: Indoctrination of a Nation, about Russians living under the Putin regime; and D-Day: 100 Days for Freedom,...

Cameras are rolling on Montmartre, an eight-part historical drama set against the backdrop of the cabaret scene in the titular Parisien neighborhood.

The drama is coming to the screen courtesy of Authentic Prod and TF1 and will star Alice Dufour, Victor Meutelet, and Claire Romain. The Banijay France-backed producer and French commercial broadcaster are joining forces to co-produce the scripted series.

Montmartre was created by Julien Simonet and Brigitte Bémol. Louis Choquette will direct. Set at the turn of the 19th century, the historical drama will tell the intertwining stories of a trio of characters.

Céleste, played by Dufour (Alphonse), is a determined Cancan dancer who is desperate to fund a search for her long-lost siblings. Meutelet (The Bonfire of Destiny) stars as Arsène, a wealthy young engineer, who breaks off an arranged marriage to embrace his hidden love for men. Meanwhile, Rose, played by Romain (Cat’s Eyes), works in...

Since launching at the start of 2024, TF1+, the ad-supported streaming service of France’s leading commercial channel TF1, has nearly doubled its content pipeline through aggregation deals and has increased its digital advertising revenues by about 40%.

The service, which is spearheaded by TF1 president and chairman Rodolphe Belmer, has recently signed partnerships with Franco-German network Arte and A&e Television Network, bringing TF1+’s pipeline of content from 15,000 hours at launch to 25,000 hours today.

In under a year, the service has positioned itself as a leading free streaming aggregation platform in France where it’s now referenced on 95% of French TV sets. Belmer says the platform gets an 80% awareness rate in France and is being watched by an average of 33 million French people every month, for an average of 3.5 hours monthly.

These deals with third-party publishers, such as a “major European broadcaster like Arte and a U.S.-based global...

Last month, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos enjoyed a coronation of sorts at the Royal Television Society conference in London, which the streaming giant was hosting. In a show of muscle, Netflix pulled in appearances from speakers including “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight and soccer star David Beckham, both of whom have projects at Netflix. Sarandos also took the opportunity to announce a first-look deal with “Baby Reindeer” creator Richard Gadd.

But it was his keynote speech that the audience, which included U.K. captains of industry such as BBC boss Tim Davie, had come to see. In it, Sarandos paid homage to the U.K.’s TV production sector but warned of the industry’s need to “embrace change.”

In recent years, however, it is the streamers who have had to change, particularly in Europe. When Netflix first arrived on the continent less than a decade ago, it imported a...

The works of manga creator Tsukasa Hojo have long been popular in France. The anime adaptations of City Hunter and its connected series Cat's Eye both got air time there—as Nicky Larson and Cat's Eyes , respectively. And, much like City Hunter , Cat's Eye is on its way to a French live-action adaptation. Today, we get our first look at the previously announced TV series project! While the release date isn't official yet, TF1 mentioned the show would be released this fall. And as previously mentioned, the 8 episodes will also stream later on Amazon Prime Video. Check out our first look at the upcoming Cat's Eyes TV series: Related: What Makes City Hunter Such a Timeless Show? Alexandre Laurent directs and Michael Catz serves as writer and showrunner for Cat's Eyes , which stars Camille Lou, Constance Labbé and Claire Romain as the Chamade sisters. The series will air on French...

Ahead of its broadcast premiere on France’s TF1, “Cat’s Eyes,” the anticipated live-action show set in Paris and based on the cult manga series, has been sold by Newen Connect to a flurry of European broadcasters.

The eight-part action-packed show was picked up by Germany’s Zdf and Italy’s Rai, among others. The show was previously sold to Belgium (Rtl) and Switzerland (Rts). It was co-financed by Amazon which bought a second window for France, while the first window was picked up for Latin America and Japan.

Directed by Alexandre Laurent (“Women at War”), “Cat’s Eyes” is a heist series starring Camille Lou, Contance Labbé (“Balthazar”), and Claire Romain (“Where It All Begins”) as the Chamade sisters who are on the prowl for the most beautiful and secured artworks in Paris on display in a high-class exhibition at the Eiffel Tower.

“The siblings hope that the artwork which belongs to their father,...

McDonald’s is celebrating a new anime collaboration by launching a Los Angeles exclusive: WcDonald’s, a version of McDonald’s that’s commonly featured in many popular anime shows.

The knock-off first appeared in the 1981 manga and anime franchise Cat’s Eyes. The Los Angeles version is a prelude to a similar rollout in 30 markets worldwide. Aside from the name, the difference in the anime stores will be the availability of a special sauce, manga-inspired packaging, episodic anime shorts, and manga .

This isn’t the first such McDonald’s stunt. Earlier, they did a Snoop Dogg version of the stores in a limited promotion.

“Anime is a huge part of today’s culture, and we love that our fans have been inviting us into the conversation for years,” McDonald’s said in the announcement. The Japanese manga artist and illustrator Acky Bright was enlisted to design custom WcDonald’s packaging for this collaboration.

Unveiling a raft of international shows at Mipcom, Newen Connect’s managing director Rodolphe Buet said the distribution arm of the TF1-owned company is seeing its business model go through “drastic changes” as it now plays a more central role in financing content.

In the next two years, Buet said roughly 70% of Newen Connect’s revenues will stem from content it pre-finances and/or co-produces, rather than licensing deals.

“We use to be gap deficit-ers, bringing minimum guarantees against rights for international. We’re now at the center of the equation, co-producing or co-financing to speed up the process of production,” said Buet, citing collaborations with in-house and third-party producers, alongside ongoing partnerships with TF1, Sweden’s TV4 and CMore, Germany’s Zdf and Amazon, among others.

Buet says partners have become “extremely conservative” in recent years and are on the lookout for existing IPs to limit risk. New players,...