As the Hollywood event kicks off, Broadcast pinpoints the eyecatching series for global buyers as book adaptations dominate
After the recent reduction in the number of scripted titles in the international marketplace due to economic fragilities, financing of drama and comedy projects has become increasingly judicious. As Sony Pictures Entertainment distribution chief Keith Le Goy put it to Broadcast, “people are being smarter and more thoughtful about what they want to spend their money on.”
It is no surprise the slates of studios and independent distributors alike are peppered with character-led detective/crime serialised dramas or police procedurals, given the endurance of the genre and its popularity among streaming commissioners as well as traditional broadcasters.
Selecting the pick of the titles on offer for international buyers, therefore, becomes an even more complicated process. Nevertheless, here are Broadcast’s bets for what will pique buyers’ interests.
The Day of the Jackal
Distributor: NBCU Global TV Distribution
Producer: Carnival Films
Length: 10 x 60 minutes
Broadcasters: Sky (UK & Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy), Peacock (US)
Sky Studios’ focus under its newly restructured scripted originals teams could be defined by Carnival Film’s ambitious retelling of Frederick Forsyth’s classic work. Updating an existing and popular literary IP ticks many boxes in today’s world of caution and need for return on investment. Add to that a global – tick – espionage caper – tick – which touches on myriad contemporaneous geopolitical themes – tick, tick – and you’re well on the road to buyer interest. The talent package in front of and behind the camera is top tier. Eddie Redmayne stars as the mysterious protagonist, armed with the scripts of Top Boy’s Ronan Bennett and the direction of Luther’s Brian Kirk. Carnival’s reimagining aims to dig into Redmayne’s character and amplifying the “globetrotting cat and mouse” elements of Forsyth’s story. While Sky and Peacock have tied up key territories in the US, UK & Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, the show will likely be in hot demand for the rest of the buying community.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Distributor: Sony Pictures Television
Producer: Curio Pictures
Length: 5 x 60 minutes
Broadcaster: Amazon Prime Video (Australia)
Band of Brothers and The Pacific made high-end World War II dramas a fixture in the TV landscape. More recently, SAS: Rogue Heroes, Masters of the Air and World on Fire have bolstered the canon with extensive global sales and exposure. Curio Pictures’ adaptation of Richard Flanagan’s Booker Prize-winning novel joins this pantheon but has a different calling card to each of its peers. Set against the horror of the Allied prisoners of war who were forced to build the Thailand-Burma Railway by the Japanese, the series tells lieutenant Dorrigo Evans’ story and how his fleeting love affair with Amy Mulvaney shaped his life. Told over multiple time periods, the series is a love story but also intense character study, touching on suffering and the endurance of the human spirit. Jacob Elordi, the Gen Z face of Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn and HBO’s Euphoria, leads a cast which includes Ciarán Hinds and Odessa Young. Atmospheric and haunting are perhaps the best words to describe the qualities which writer Shaun Grant and director Justin Kurzel bring to the production, being – as they are – respective creatives from iconic productions Mindhunter and Michael Fassbender’s Macbeth. Along with BBC1’s Dope Girls, The Narrow Road to the Deep North represents the cream of Sony Pictures Televisions’ crop of international dramas on sale.
Long Bright River
Distributor: Sony Pictures Television
Producers: SPT, UCP
Length: 8 x 60 minutes
Broadcaster: Peacock (US)
Amanda Seyfried returns to the small screen for a crime drama transporting viewers to the streets of Philadelphia. Based on Liz Morris’ novel of the same name, Seyfried plays Mickey, a cop who patrols a drug-fuelled neighbourhood hit hard by the opioid crisis. Mickey’s personal connection to this world is through her estranged sister, who is caught up in a world of addiction. When a spate of murders blights the neighbourhood, Mickey realises her history might involve her in the case. Crime dramas are always popular with international buyers, particularly serialised titles with a nuanced central character. Hulu’s 2021 smash Dopesick brought the crippling effect of opioids and drugs on communities and families into sharp relief and has since been bought by linear broadcasters, so there is precedent that these topics can resonate with buyers. NBCUniversal studio UCP, which is behind fellow Peacock 2024 Liane Moriarty adaptation Apples Never Fall, is producing along with SPT. The studio has had much success with tense crime dramas and dramedies including 2023 A Friend of the Family and Based on a True Story, but also Dirty John and Homecoming from a few years back.
Average Joe
Distributor: Paramount Global Content Distribution
Producers: Wonderland Sound and Vision, DAE Light Media
Length: 10 x 60 minutes
Broadcaster: BET+ (US)
Hailing from Lucky creator Robb Cullen and inspired by his own life, Average Joe follows blue-collar Pittsburgh plumber Joe Washington – Black-ish and Grown-ish’s Deon Cole – who discovers his recently deceased father lived a secret second life and stole millions of dollars from dangerous people just before he died. Confronted by these individuals who believe he knows where the money is, Joe is drawn into a bloody and violent confrontation which triggers a chain of events putting his close-knit family and friends in jeopardy. Disrupted from their mundane lives, Joe and his loved ones face a life-or-death race to uncover the truth and the money. Dark comedic dramas have been in vogue for a while now, helping cut through different audience types for buyers. Cole leads a cast which includes Tammy Townsend (Days of Our Lives, Family Matters), Malcom Barrett (The Boys) and Cynthia McWilliams (Prison Break, Bosch: Legacy). The series is produced by Supernatural, The OC, Lethal Weapon and Not Dead Yet outfit Wonderland Sound and Vision and DAE Light Media (Twenties).
Emperor of Ocean Park
Distributor: Warner Bros Discovery
Producers: John Wells Productions, Warner Bros. Television
Length: 10 x 60 minutes
Broadcaster: MGM+ (US)
Adapted from Professor Stephen L. Carter’s New York Times bestseller of the same name and set in the world of politics, Ivy League academia and the paradisiacal beaches of Martha’s Vineyard, the series follows Talcott Garland, portrayed by Lawmen: Bass Reeves’ Grantham Coleman, as a distinguished law professor life is shattered when his father, Judge Oliver Garland (Forest Whittaker) dies of an apparent heart attack. Tal’s sister Mariah (Jessica Jones’ Tiffany Mack), a former journalist and devout conspiracy theorist, believes Judge Garland – a failed Black nominee to the Supreme Court – died in suspicious circumstances. MGM+’s Michael Wright noted that besides its whodunnit credentials, the premium series touches on important themes of middle-and-upper-class Black identity, while writer and showrunner Sherman Payne (Charm City Kings and Shameless) described Carter’s novel as setting “a new standard for stories about power, race, politics, and wealth.” The MGM+ series is from Emmy-winning exec producer John Wells’ eponymous label (JWP) and Warner Bros TV. Damian Marcano (Lawman: Bass Reeves) directs and exec produces alongside Wells, Payne, Shukree Tilghman (This Is Us, Animal Kingdom) and JWP’s Erin Jontow (Shameless, Animal Kingdom).
The Hunting Wives
Distributor: Lionsgate
Producers: Lionsgate Television, 3 Arts Entertainment
Length: 8 x 60 minutes
Broadcaster: Starz (US)
Another book adaptation, but this merely reflects a market indebtedness to established IP. Starz’s eight-part thriller is based on May Cobb’s novel. The Hunting Wives is a female-led production, adapted by Hightown creator Rebecca Cutter, who is exec producer and showrunner. The action centres on high-flying Sophie O’Neill (Brittany Snow of The Night Agent fame) who, sick of the stress of the rat race in Chicago, relocates with her family to the quiet of rural Texas. The idyll seems perfect until Sophie realises the serene life leaves her bored and restless. But, finding herself seduced by alluring socialite Margo Banks, portrayed by Malin Åkerman (Watchmen), she is inducted into elite local clique known as the Hunting Wives. Captivated by Margot and group’s mysterious world of late-night target practice and hard partying, Sophie’s quickly becomes obsessed, distancing herself from her family. When a teenage girl’s body is found in the woods where the Hunting Wives meet, Sophie is tipped into the centre of a murder investigation. Starz has a history of successful female-skewing premium programming – another in-demand area for international buyers – including The Girlfriend Experience, P-Valley, The Serpent Queen, even tentpole series Outlander. Cutter’s crime drama Hightown recently finished its three-series run on the cabler to broad critical acclaim.
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