Welcome to Global Breakouts , Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track… So we’re going to do the hard work for you. This week we head down under to Australia , where Paramount+ original Last King of the Cross has been making a serious racket. Telling the true story of gang warfare in the notorious Sydney Kings Cross district, the 10-part crime thriller harks back to classics such as The Godfather . Its journey to screen has been a lengthy but enjoyable one, say producers. Name : Last King of the Cross Country : Australia Network : Paramount+ Australia Producer : Helium Pictures International sales : Cineflix Rights For fans of : Godfather, Gomorrah Neighbours may have felt like the only Australian TV drama … [Read more...] about ‘Godfather’-esque Crime Thriller ‘Last King Of The Cross’ Is Proving That Australian TV Drama Is So Much More Than ‘Neighbours’
Best true crime doc you series
A24 Reteams With ‘Shuggie Bain’ Author Douglas Stuart For ‘Young Mungo’ TV Series
EXCLUSIVE : The first new A24 project to emerge since the studio’s record-breaking Oscar haul last week is international TV series Young Mungo , which is being adapted by Scottish-American author Douglas Stuart from his acclaimed novel. The series, about the dangerous first love of two working class men in Glasgow, is being shepherded by A24’s international heads Piers Wenger and Rose Garnett, and marks a coup for the pair given the stellar reviews and buzz around its author. Published last year, Young Mungo is the second novel from Stuart after Booker prize-winner Shuggie Bain , which Euphoria and Everything Everywhere All At Once producer A24 is currently making into a series with the BBC. A broadcaster has yet to be set on Young Mungo . The story follows Protestant Mungo and Catholic James who live in a hyper-masculine world. They are caught between two of Glasgow’s housing estates where young working-class men divide themselves along sectarian lines, … [Read more...] about A24 Reteams With ‘Shuggie Bain’ Author Douglas Stuart For ‘Young Mungo’ TV Series
Diarra Kilpatrick Strikes Overall Deal With BET, Lands Straight-To-Series Order For Dark Comedy At BET+
EXCLUSIVE: Actress, writer, and producer Diarra Kilpatrick has signed an overall deal with BET for its BET Studios division. As part of the deal, BET+ ordered 8 episodes of the straight-to-series project Diarra From Detroit . Each 1-hour episode of the dark comedy follows a divorcing schoolteacher with an acerbic sense of humor who refuses to believe she’s been ghosted by her rebound Tinder date. Her search for the missing man pulls her into a decades-old mystery involving the Detroit underworld. Production is currently wrapping up on Diarra From Detroit , which is slated to premiere later in 2023. “We are so excited to partner with Diarra. She represents the next generation of content creators, boldly embracing the role of a multi-hyphenate as a writer, actress, and producer,” said Aisha Summers Burke, Executive Vice President, and General Manager, BET Studios. “With a unique and authentic voice, Diarra’s storytelling is fearless, funny, and subversive. We are … [Read more...] about Diarra Kilpatrick Strikes Overall Deal With BET, Lands Straight-To-Series Order For Dark Comedy At BET+
‘A Gentleman In Moscow’: Leah Harvey, Paul Ready & More Join Paramount+ & Showtime Drama Series
EXCLUSIVE: The cast is coming together on Paramount+ and Showtime’s upcoming limited series A Gentleman in Moscow . BAFTA nominee Leah Harvey, Johnny Harris, Paul Ready, Alexa Goodall, John Heffernan, Lyès Salem, Fehinti Balogun, Bj ö rn Hlynur Haraldsson, Dee Ahluwalia and Anastasia Hille have joined Ewan McGregor and Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the ensemble drama that eOne is making in association with Paramount. The series is based on Amor Towles’ internationally bestselling novel. Ewan McGregor is starring in the series as Count Alexander Rostov, a Russian aristocrat who’s forced to make a life for himself in a hotel after being banished there by a Soviet tribunal. RELATED: 2023 Showtime Pilots & Series Orders Mary Elizabeth Winstead already has been cast to star opposite the Star Wars and Trainspotting actor as glamorous, self-made film actress Anna Urbanova. Harvey, who was BAFTA-nominated for AppleTV+ drama Foundation , plays wise … [Read more...] about ‘A Gentleman In Moscow’: Leah Harvey, Paul Ready & More Join Paramount+ & Showtime Drama Series
Eddie Redmayne To Lead ‘The Day Of The Jackal’ Series For Peacock & Sky
Eddie Redmayne , fresh from The Good Nurse , is set to play another killer. The Oscar-winning actor will star in The Day of the Jackal series for Peacock and Sky. He will play The Jackal, a professional assassin hired by a French paramilitary dissident to kill French President Charles de Gaulle in 1962. The series is based on the Frederick Forsyth novel and 1973 film adaptation from Universal Pictures. However, it has been reimagined as a contemporary story set amidst the current turbulent geo-political landscape and will delve deeper into the chameleon like ‘anti-hero’. Top Boy creator and writer Ronan Bennett writes and serves as showrunner. Brian Kirk, who has directed episodes of Game of Thrones and Luther, will direct. It is produced by Universal International Studios’ Carnival Films, which is best known for producing Downton Abbey. Redmayne will also exec produce alongside Carnival Films’ Gareth Neame and Nigel Marchant, Sky Studios’ Sam Hoyle. … [Read more...] about Eddie Redmayne To Lead ‘The Day Of The Jackal’ Series For Peacock & Sky
‘The Steve Wilkos Show’ Renewed for 17th Season
EXCLUSIVE : NBCUniversal Syndication Studios has renewed the syndicated chatfest The Steve Wilkos Show for a 17th season. The Steve Wilkos Show tackles family and criminal justice, true crime and relationship conflicts. The show is hosted by Steve Wilkos, a former Chicago police officer and U.S. Marine. “We’re so proud to have reached this milestone as one of the longest-running talk shows in broadcast syndication,” said Tracie Wilson, Executive Vice President, NBCUniversal Syndication Studios & E! News. “Along with our talented production team who bring riveting stories each day, Steve’s life experiences, his quick wit and no-nonsense approach create an organic connection with his audience. We look forward to bringing our station partners and loyal viewers another eventful season.” Wilkos will celebrate 30 years in daytime television in 2024. He started as the head of security on The Jerry Springer Show in 1994 and launched his own talk show in 2007. “I … [Read more...] about ‘The Steve Wilkos Show’ Renewed for 17th Season
Embankment Beefs Up Nonfiction Arm With Four Hires
UK sales and production firm Embankment Films ( The Father, The Wife ) has set a wholesale rejig of its nonfiction arm with four new senior hires. Producers Nick Taussig, Malcolm Neaum, Sophie Harmer, and researcher Henry Farrington will join the company, taking on their new positions with immediate effect. Taussig ( McQueen, Audrey, Killing Escobar ), a BAFTA and Grierson nominated feature documentary producer, will team with Neaum ( I Shouldn’t Be Alive, Savile Row ) to produce unscripted series formats, including returnable series, for Embankment. Those two will be joined by Harmer, who, with Taussig, recently produced the feature docs Call Me Kate and Charlie Mackesy: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and Me . Harmer will be Head of Production Unscripted at Embankment, while Henry Farrington joins as a senior researcher. These four new hires are the latest to be announced by Embankment since veteran UK producer Kevin Loader ( The Death of Stalin, … [Read more...] about Embankment Beefs Up Nonfiction Arm With Four Hires
Greek Outfit Heretic Promotes Head Of Sales Ioanna Stais To Partner
EXCLUSIVE: Greek production and sales house Heretic has upped its longtime head of sales and acquisitions exec Ioanna Stais to partner. Stais, who has been with the company since 2014, has been a key driver behind Heretic’s bustling film sales slate which has included Berlin Golden Bear winner Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn from director Radu Jude, and Omar El Zohairy’s Feathers , which won Cannes Critics’ week in 2021. In 2019, the company handled world sales for Retablo , Peru’s official submission for the International Oscar, which was also nominated for a BAFTA Outstanding Debut Award and Best International Film for the Film Independent Spirit Award. The company recently boarded world sales rights for Jude’s latest project, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World , as well as Sundance doc And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine , which it sold widely. “Having joined the company almost from its very founding, I couldn’t be prouder for what … [Read more...] about Greek Outfit Heretic Promotes Head Of Sales Ioanna Stais To Partner
Julie Plec & Universal TV Option YA Books ‘We Were Liars,’ ‘Family of Liars’ & ‘Again Again’ By E. Lockhart
EXCLUSIVE : Great news for fans of E. Lockhart’s popular YA books: Julie Plec ’s My So-Called Company and Universal Television has acquired the rights to We Were Liars, Family of Liars and Again Again. We Were Liars is a tragic love story and an amnesia thriller set on a privately owned island off the coast of Massachusetts. It’s been on the NY Times bestseller list for the past 22 months. The recently released Family of Liars , the prequel to We Were Liars, takes readers back to the story of another summer, another generation, and the secrets that will haunt them for decades to come. Again Again follows Adelaide Buchwald who, after a near-fatal family catastrophe and an unexpected romantic upheaval, finds herself catapulted into a summer of wild possibility, during which she will fall in and out of love a thousand times while confronting the secrets she keeps, her ideas about love, and the weird grandiosity of the human mind. Carina Adly MacKenzie … [Read more...] about Julie Plec & Universal TV Option YA Books ‘We Were Liars,’ ‘Family of Liars’ & ‘Again Again’ By E. Lockhart
Amazon Laying Off Thousands More As Job Cuts In Sector Expand
Amazon is laying off another 9,000 workers as job cuts in the tech sector expand at a time of growing economic uncertainty. It follows cuts last fall and early this year. “Given the uncertain economy in which we reside, and the uncertainty that exists in the near future, we have chosen to be more streamlined in our costs and headcount,” Jassy said in a memo to staff today. “As we’ve just concluded the second phase of our operating plan (“OP2”) this past week, I’m writing to share that we intend to eliminate about 9,000 more positions in the next few weeks—mostly in AWS, PXT, Advertising, and Twitch. This was a difficult decision, but one that we think is best for the company long term,” he said. (PXT is People eXperience and Technology,) Tech companies have been shedding staff at a rapid clip. Meta Platforms, the corporate parent of Facebook , Instagram and WhatsApp, recently announced plans to cut another 10,000 jobs and undergo a hiring freeze in what CEO Mark … [Read more...] about Amazon Laying Off Thousands More As Job Cuts In Sector Expand