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Warner Bros. Discovery has acquired revenge thriller “Kill Jackie,” starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, for HBO Max in Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, France and Belgium.
The deal takes in two
of HBO’s most established streaming markets, the Nordics and Spain, where SVOD services HBO Nordics and HBO España launched as far back as 2012 and 2016 with HBO Max set to pass Prime Video to become the second largest streamer in Spain by the end of 2026, according to Ampere Analysis.
Produced by Fremantle, which handles all international distribution outside the U.S., and Steel Spring Pictures, the eight-part series is scheduled to debut in 2026. “Kill Jackie” looks set to give Zeta-Jones, an Oscar, Bafta and Tony Award winner (“Chicago,” “Wednesday”), as she has recognised, a “multifaceted” role encompassing “empowerment, identity and redemption.”
Zeta-Jones plays a drug dealer turned glamorous art dealer whose past suddenly caches up with her as she becomes the target of The Seven Demons, a hit squad of the world’s most terrifying assassins.
When a tragic event makes her hell-bent for revenge, Jackie determines to take out the Demons one by one, unleashing her old killer instincts. “However, she soon realises her own demons are much more terrifying than the ruthless killers on her trail…and her buried secrets ultimately lead her much closer to home, with surprising consequences,” the synopsis runs.
A buzz title at the London TV Screenings, “Kill Jackie” co-stars Daniel Ings (“The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”) as Jackie’s foil, her distinctly sensitive-about-violence tax lawyer, who, according to reports, provides much of the humor in a consistently high-octane, twisting, comedic thriller.
Written by Tom Butterworth (“Gangs of London”) and Conor Keane, “Kill Jackie” is lead directed by Damon Thomas (“Killing Eve”), adapting “The Price You Pay” by Sunday Times best-selling author Nick Harkaway, writing as Aidan Truhen.
Key cast also takes in another HBO alum, Sidse Babett Knudsen (“Prime Target,” “Borgen”),and Óscar Jaenada , Hattie Hook, Darci Shaw, Raff Law , Enzo Cilenti, Christine Adams, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Karlis Arnolds Avots, Set Sjöstrand, Tadashi Ito, Sebastian Armesto, Julian Barratt, Gavin Spokes , Jonathan Cake, Bamshad Abedi-Amin and Bill Paterson.
“HBO Max has an outstanding track record of partnering on the very best projects, making it the perfect home for ‘Kill Jackie,’ said Jamie Lynn, EVP co-production & distribution EMEA. “As the platform continues to grow across Europe, we couldn’t be more delighted to embark on this adventure together. With its relentless pace, thrilling action and unforgettable central performance, we know ‘Kill Jackie’ is in the very best of hands.“
“I loved Nick’s gonzo thriller of a book,” Butterworth has said. “Our ambition is to twist and expand his world into something equally funny, dark, crazed and unique. Or die trying.”
“Kill Jackie” is a “sly character study that asks what happens when you’re forced to act out your darkest impulses in order to survive. But at its heart, it’s a grounded, universal story about family: the kind we’re born with and the kind we choose,” Fremantle told Variety is the run-up to Mipcom.
“Kill Jackie” is produced in partnership with José Luis Escolar’s Deabru Kalea Filmeak which supervised production in and around Bilbao. So expect the propulsive thriller to make full use of Bilbao’s extraordinarily chic post-industrial cityscape, taking advantage of its Guggenheim Museum, belle époque and modern plate glass architecture, estuary-adjunct walkways and green countryside.
“Killing Jackie” is co-created by Conor Keane, Butterworth Peter Lawson (“John Wick”) and Thomas. Butterworth serves as both writer and showrunner.
Executive producers are Lawson and Jose Agustín Valdés for Steel Springs Pictures, Butterworth, Thomas, Zeta-Jones, Rebecca Dundon, Dante Di Loreto and Jeffrey Levine, with Nick Harkaway serving as executive consultant.
With the WBD deal, a multi-territory sales to Prime Video and a recent AMC+ U.S. sale, “Kill Jackie” has closed the lion’s share of major territories in the world.
Zeta-Jones is represented by UTA and Ziffren Brittenham LLP. Butterworth is represented by Curtis Brown. Daniel Ings is represented by United Agents, WME, TFC Management, ColorCreative, Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern and CLD Communications.
