BREAKING: Latest news, deals & hires

Thursday, 12.30pm: Carnival prepping The Bee Sting adaptation

The Day of the Jackal indie Carnival Films is developing an adaptation of Paul Murray’s Booker Prize-shortlisted novel The Bee Sting for TV, Broadcast can reveal.

Murray will adapt his own work for screen after Carnival won the rights to the novel earlier this year in what was understood to be a highly competitive process. Read more

Thursday, 12.02pm: Unpicking the formula of Israel’s scripted format success

What do HBO’s Your Honour, ITV’s Significant Other and Amazon Prime Video’s Escort Boys have in common?

They’re all scripted formats and they’re all from Israeli form yes Studios. Want to know how they did it? Check out managing director Sharon Levi’s piece for Broadcast International. Read more

Thursday, 11.34am: French & Nordic shows top Walter Presents most-watched

Foreign-language streamer Walter Presents has unveiled its most-watched shows for 2024, with dramas from France and the Nordics dominating the top 10.

French crime drama Astrid: Murder in Paris topped the chart, with Finland’s Arctic Circle and Sweden’s Top Dog making the podium in second and third.

Denmark’s Seaside Hotel took fourth spot, followed by Spanish drama Hierro in fifth and Belgian duo The Twelve and Pandora in sixth and seventh spots, respectively.

The Wall: The Chateau Murders and The Sketch Artist, both hailing from Canada and France, took eighth and ninth places, with Germany’s Nordic Murders rounding out the top 10. The findings were based on a combination of C4 linear and streaming data, Walter Presents said.

Thursday, 11.08am: UK’s C5 preps Gisèle Pelicot rape trial doc

Paramount-owned UK broadscaster Channel 5 has commissioned a fast-turnaround documentary from ITN Productions that will explore the Gisèle Pelicot rape trial that has stunned France and the world.

The 90-minute feature doc is set to air on the 11 December at 9pm and will feature an exclusive, on-camera interview with one of the alleged rapists in the case. Read more.

Thursday, 9.13am: ZDF Studios snags trio from Australia’s WildBear

Germany’s ZDF Studios has taken international distribution rights to three productions from Australia’s WildBear Entertainment.

How We Celebrate is a six-part docuseries that explores the diverse ways people around the world celebrate six major holidays, while Home Sweet Home – Incredible Animal Habitats reveals different home environments inhabited by earth’s creatures through the lens of a human’s house. War Machine: Modern Warfare offers a deep dive into contemporary weaponry and the tactical ingenuity behind them.

Wild Thring Media brokered the deals between WildBear Entertainment and ZDF Studios.

Thursday, 8.43am: Paramount+ starts production on Hardy, Brosnan & Mirren drama 

Production is underway in London on Guy Ritchie’s new crime series for Paramount+ and Showtime, starring Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren.

The Guy Ritchie-led show, which is untitled, is produced in association with Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios. It tracks two warring families based in London whose enterprises stretch around the world and a fiercely loyal ‘fixer’ employed to protect one of them at all costs.

The series will debut in 2025 on Paramount+ globally (with US subscribers requiring the Showtime plan).

Thursday, 8.33am: Netflix adds Nippon TV’s anime to global slate 

Netflix is expanding its anime offering after striking a deal for Nippon TV’s upcoming series, The Summer Hikaru Died.

The show is being produced by CygamesPictures and will become available on the streamer globally, following its launch in Japan on Nippon TV and local streamer Abema.

The horror show is based on author Mokumokuren’s manga comic of the same name and follows a high school boy who experiences various mysterious incidents in his life with Hikaru, a mysterious being who imitates his best friend.