News

In a key strategic move and following some of the smart TV money in these current times, New Regency has partnered with Bravado Equity to drive into Europe, making its first European series acquisition “Beyond” (aka “Oderbruch”), one of the standout recent TV hits in Europe.

New Regency will launch “Beyond” at the London TV Screenings, its market debut taking place for invited guests on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25.

In industry terms, prestige drama “Beyond” ticks many of the boxes for series which can be made with high production values while tapping into Europe’s rich financing ecosystem.

The second series in a first-look TV deal between CBS Studios and Berlin-based Syrreal Entertainment, “Beyond” is also produced by Ard Degeto, the film production arm of Germany’s Ard, Europe’s biggest public broadcaster which is moving into ever more ambitious series such as 2024 Canneseries winner “The Zweiflers” and indeed “Beyond.”

“Beyond...

European Film Promotion is playing host at the Cannes Film Festival to 20 up-and-coming European producers, selected for its Producers on the Move program. Variety invited the producers to share details of their upcoming projects.

Katharina Posch, Austria

“I’m Not Here to Make Friends”

Director: Julia Niemann

“I’m Not Here to Make Friends” is a sleek and sunny psycho thriller about a reality TV show set on a remote island. Playing with elements of horror and satire it asks the question: Why do we want to be seen so badly?

Elisa Heene, Belgium

“Nightshade”

Director: Leni Huyghe

“Nightshade” by Cinéfondation talent Leni Huyghe is a psychological thriller about Leanna, a chemist, who starts experimenting with the poisonous plant Nightshade and discovers its hallucinatory powers. Leana gets addicted and loses herself in a dreamlike world, where the midwife Marta is accused of witchcraft.

Kalin Kalinov, Bulgaria

“Axis of Life”

Director:...

Commission

Warner Bros. Discovery U.K. is re-teaming with Optomen TV to produce a follow-up to “Johnny vs Amber,” a two-part documentary which explored Johnny Depp’s defamation trial in the U.K. High Court with explosive evidence, intimate personal archive and in-depth interviews from both legal teams. Following the success of that documentary, the follow up will be focused on the recent and very high-profile legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, this time in the U.S. The two-part Discovery+ documentary will again look at the extensive evidence and testimony of both Depp and Heard. Each episode will present one side of the argument through legal teams, friends, family and key witnesses.

In addition, Discovery+ has also greenlit two further ‘vs’ series: “Coleen vs Rebekah,” will examine the recent U.K. court battle between high profile footballers’ wives Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy; and “Britney vs Jamie,...

Production has got underway in Germany and Poland on “Oderbruch,” a major thriller series produced by Paramount Global’s CBS Studios, Syrreal Entertainment and Ard Degeto, part of German public broadcast group Ard.

The previously announced drama stars Karoline Schuch (“Dark Woods”), Felix Kramer (“Dogs of Berlin”) and Lucas Gregorowicz and is a tale which begins with the discovery of multiple murder victims in a remote area near the German-Polish border.

The eight-part series is directed by Adolfo J. Kolmerer and Christian Alvart. Series creator and head writer Arend Remmers developed the series concept with Kolmerer.

Siegfried Kamml, Christian Alvart and Timm Oberwelland from Syrreal serve as producers. The executives overseeing the project are: Christoph Pellander, editor-in-chief of Ard Degeto; Sebastian Lückel, head of acquisitions and co-productions at Ard Degeto; Patrick Noel Simon, commissioning editor at Ard Degeto; and Meghan Lyvers, senior VP of international co-productions and development at CBS Studios.

Oderbruch (working title), the CBS Studios and Syrreal Entertainment supernatural mystery drama for Germany’s Ard Degato, has added four cast members, as principal photography begins this week.

André Hennicke (Pandorum), Alix Heyblom (Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo), Winfried Glatzeder (Die Legende von Paul und Paula), Robert Glatzeder (In Aller Freudschaft) and Jan Krauter (3 1/2 Hours) are onboard the eight-part series, which is currently filming in Görlitz, Germany and will also shoot in Poland.

The series follows Detective Roland Voit (Felix Kramer) on a serial murder case after after numerous victims shock the Oderbruch region of Germany. His former colleague and childhood sweetheart, Maggie Kring (Karoline Schuch), joins the police investigation when her family comes under immediate suspicion.

Adolfo J. Kolmerer and Christian Alvart are directing, with Siegfried Kamml, Christian Alvart and Timm Oberwelland from Syrreal producing. Overseeing the shoot are Ard Degato trio Christoph Pellander, Sebastian Lückel and Patrick Noel Simon and Meghan Lyvers,...

Casting

BBC One original series “Casualty” has announced its first transgender character, Sah, to be played by newcomer Arin Smethurst. Sah joins the series’ popular existing team of paramedics including Jan (Di Botcher), Teddy (Milo Clarke) and Iain (Michael Stevenson). “Casualty” is Smethurst’s first time working on a TV series, and the first episodes featuring their new character will begin airing later this month.

“I am honored to be joining the spectacular ‘Casualty’ family as a shiny new paramedic! I’m so excited to portray this transgender, non-binary, salty but fiercely compassionate character and hope they are not only well-received, but also a source of awareness for those who have never met someone like me,” said Smethurst in a release.

Development

Ard Degeto is developing “Oderbruch,” a new drama series destined for the company’s Ard Mediathek online platform. The series will be co-produced with Syrreal Entertainment and CBS Studios,...

From post-Francoist State Spain to post-reunified Germany, director Christian Alvart moves Alberto Rodríguez and Rafael Cobos’ Goya Award-winning thriller Marshland to a newly democratized remote village outside of Berlin via Free Country. Considering detectives Patrick Stein (Trystan Pütter) and Markus Bach (Felix Kramer) are thrust together despite building their careers in the West and East respectively, Alvart and co-writer Siegfried Kamml have ample room with which to retool things through a prism of their own nation’s potential for dark political secrets and guilt-ridden pasts. So while both men seek to solve a mystery surrounding two missing teenage sisters, they also look to peel back each other’s conditioned layers of subterfuge in order to begin unpacking Patrick’s rejection of authority and Markus’ complicity to a fallen regime.

The fallout of the Berlin Wall’s destruction creates a ripple effect that consumes every single character from a factory strike...

Italian actor Franco Nero wants to reprise his role as the coffin-dragging gunfighter made famous in Sergio Corbucci's original 1966 spaghetti Western, Django. Django Lives! will be directed by Pandorum's Christian Alvart from a screenplay by legendary writer/director John Sayles (Lone Star, Battle Beyond the Stars). Myriad Pictures will handle international sales and present the project at Cannes next week, reports Screen Daily Django Lives! will catch up with the titular character in California in 1914, where he will encounter white supremacists. "Having Christian direct Sayles's powerful screenplay is a dream come true," said Nero. "Even Christian's third son is named Django. It was meant to be." Syrreal Entertainment's Sigi Kamml, Josef Brandmaier and Alvart will produce the film alongside Fast Draw Films' Carolyn Pfeiffer, Louis...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Franco Nero to reprise legendary role as Django.

Christian Alvart will direct from a screenplay by John Sayles and Italian icon Franco Nero will reprise the role that brought him worldwide fame in Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 classic Django.

Myriad will handle international sales and introduce the project to buyers in Cannes next week.

Django Lives! will star Nero as a drifter in California in 1914 who encounters White Supremacists.

“I’m excited and honored to be a part of this great project that will update us on one of the greatest archetype characters of movie history,” Alvart said.

“Having Christian direct Sayles’s powerful screenplay is a dream come true,” Nero, who appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s 2012 western Django Unchained, said. “Even Christian’s third son is named Django. It was meant to be.”

Syrreal Entertainment’s Sigi Kamml, Josef Brandmaier and Alvart produced alongside Fast Draw Films’ Carolyn Pfeiffer, Louis Black, David Hollander, and Nancy P. Sanders...