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While the movers and shakers of global television, streaming and all manner of digital platforms descend on the Croisette, Variety looks at 21 projects that could go viral with buyers.
Baywatch Showrunner: Matt Nix;
International distributor: Fremantle Set for a January debut on Fox and the U.K.’s Sky, a 12-episode reboot of the iconic international blockbuster has already seen a muscular presale to Prime Video for Canada, Latin America, India and much of Europe. Stephen Amell, Jessica Belkin and Shay Mitchell lead the new red swimsuit-clad cast. Fremantle promises it will deliver “high stakes rescues, explosive drama and plenty of beachside heat,” and such is the original’s pop culture status that this looks like one of the biggest titles at Mipcom this year.
Benidorm Is Murder
Writer: Ian Jarvis; International distributor: ZDF Studios
A procedural starring the versatile John Hannah in a lighter turn as a grumpy ex-cop running a Scottish pub in the Spanish resort town of Benidorm. But he’s dragged out of retirement by an enthusiastic local lass and her love of weird crimes. A first case: A Take That tribute band is accused of murder. Produced by Blackbox Multimedia and Clapperboard Studios, written by Jarvis (“The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin”) and directed by Simon Delaney with a winning sense of kitsch. Commissioned by Channel 5.
Blindspot Berlin
Co-creator, co-writer, director: David Nawrath; International distributor: Beta Film
On Dec. 19, 2016, a truck plowed into a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market, killing 13, injuring dozens. “Blindspot Berlin” tracks a rookie cop (Bayan Layla) and police investigator (Albrecht Schuch) in the lead-up to the attack as they fight to uncover bad actors plotting terror and battle “systemic failures and human errors,” says creator Nawrath (“Your Honor”). Produced by Neuesuper (“8 Days”) with German broadcast giant ARD Degeto, RBB, NDR and HR. It was one of Europe’s two series at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival’s high-caliber Primetime strand.
Blood & Sweat
Writers: Riku Suokas, Daniel Toivonen, Iwasaki Marie, Heikki Silja; International distributor: Boat Rocker Studios
A serial killer mystery straddling Tokyo and Finland’s frozen north, starring Anne Watanabe (“Cube,” “Stay Mum”) and Jasper Pääkkönen (“BlacKkKlansman,” “Vikings”). The series, which was highlighted at a Tokyo Intl. Film Festival Content Market presentation and the Coming Next From Japan showcase at March’s Series Mania Forum, is produced by AX-ON, Nippon TV, ICS Nordic and Boat Rocker Studios, and commissioned by Japan’s Wowow and Finland’s Nelonen.
The Castle (“El Castillo)
Creators: Isabel Peña, Eduardo Villanueva; International distributor: Movistar Plus Intl.
Co-creators Peña (longtime Rodrigo Sorogoyen co-writer) and Villanueva dive into the brutal world of sex trafficking and brothels in Spain in this series, which is based on the nonfiction book “El proxenet” (“The Pimp”) by actress and filmmaker Mabel Lozano. The Movistar Plus Original has been painstakingly researched, and is set in the late 1990s and early 2000s. “El Castle” proved the best received of Spanish titles at September’s San Sebastián Festival.
Cupertino
Showrunners: Robert King, Michelle King; International distributor: Paramount Global Content Distribution
Announced as a David vs. Goliath legal drama set in the heart of Silicon Valley, “Cupertino” stars Mike Colter as a lawyer who joins forces with an attorney (Rachel Keller) representing those taken advantage of by the Valley’s tech elite. Method Man (aka Cliff Smith) guest stars as a rapper suing an AI music studio. The CBS Studios series is the latest from hitmaker duo Robert and Michelle King, behind “The Good Wife,” “Evil and “Your Honor.” Drama premiered Oct. 8 on CBS and airs Thursdays.
Date Knight
Production company: Nordisk Film TV; International distributor: Banijay Entertainment
The new dating reality format show on the Banijay-All3Media slate. “Date Knight” invites singles to role play as knights, elves, witches and warriors, “forging connections and taking chances on love in ways they might never dare to in real life.” But can love survive when couples return to their real-life personas? From Denmark’s Nordisk Film TV, a Banijay company, “Date Knight” is “visually ambitious, emotionally engaging,” says James Townley, Banijay chief content officer, development.
The Death of Sherlock Holmes
Creators: Claudia Bluemhuber, André Küttel, Pierre Monnar; International distributor: Sphere Abacus
A major Euro TV co-production, the series is set after Sherlock Holmes’ supposed battle to the death with archvillain Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls — but is the famed sleuth really dead? The series follows Rafe Spall, an amnesiac Englishman found barely alive in an icy Swiss stream and taken in by a Swiss villager. When a local doctor is murdered, the man uses his flashes of deductive brilliance to find the perpetrator but he wonders about who he really is. It’s backed by Sky Switzerland, financier-producer Silver Reel, giant German pubcaster ARD Degeto, Umedia and Canadian distributor Sphere Abacus. Silver Reel CEO Bluemhuber, who set up the co-prod, takes a co-creator credit.
Diana Unheard
Executive producer: Kerene Barefield; International distributor: Cineflix Rights
This premium limited factual series has already sold to the U.K., U.S. and Australia. It’s based on secret recordings — heard here for the first time — made by Diana, Princess of Wales in 1991, and smuggled out of her home in Kensington Palace. They will “reframe one of the most enduring public narratives of our time. In ‘Diana Unheard,’ the Diana we never knew speaks, and it changes everything,” promises Cineflix. Produced by the U.K.’s Love Monday TV, with seasoned royal doc producer Barefield serving as EP.
Dig
Creators: Amy Poehler, Mike Schur; International distributor: NBCUniversal Global Distribution
Poehler returns to her roots, reuniting with “Parks & Recreation” creator Mike Schur for this new 30-minute comedy from Universal Television. Marking her first leading scripted role since “Parks & Rec,” Poehler was immediately attracted to Kate Myers’ bestseller “Excavations,” and wanted to be part of the adaptation. “Dig” follows four female archaeologists on a dig in Greece, all at very different stages of life. Naturally, a discovery lands them in the middle of an international conspiracy, and madness ensues. Hugh Laurie, Geraldine Viswanathan, Antonia Thomas, Kayvan Novak and Fina Strazza also star. In the U.S., all 10 episodes will stream on Peacock on Nov. 23.
Droneland
Creator: Nicolas Steil; International distributor: New Regency
A dystopian thriller starring Oliver Masucci, co-produced by a group of high-end European producers and created by veteran Steil at Luxembourg’s Iris Prods. The series is set in a world under constant surveillance, in which a troubled war veteran and an idealistic Europol agent form an unlikely duo to unravel a tech conspiracy threatening Europe and the foundations of reality, the logline runs. Co-produced by Syrreal Cats and Iris Prods. Deutschland, Topkapi Series, Enter Film and ZDF.
Fortitude Valley
Writer-creators: Stephen M. Irwin, Leigh McGrath; International distribution: DCD Rights
A crime drama set in Brisbane and turning on Det. Ethan Tobane at the Queensland Police Service, who is charged with investigating a cold case dating back to the 1980s. Headed by up-and-coming Aboriginal star Hunter Page-Lochard (“Critical Incident,” “Reckless”), the series also toplines Rupert Everett. Written, created and executive produced by Moving Floor Entertainment co-founders Irwin and McGrath (“Harrow”), along with Page-Lochard. Sian Davies directs. Set to air on Australia’s public broadcaster ABC early in 2027.
The Great White
Creator: Angela Betzien; International distribution: Mediawan, Entourage Media
A legal workplace drama from the Australian arm of Mediawan’s See-Saw Films, the shingle behind “Slow Horses” and “Apple Cider Vinegar” (on which Betzien was a co-writer). Hugo Weaving plays a brilliant but disgraced attorney, drowning in debt, who reluctantly defends an allegedly dangerous dog, battling to save its life. A series of animal cases climaxes in an audacious Supreme Court challenge to free a zoo elephant. Now in post, the series is bound for Australia’s ABC TV in 2027. “Sharp wit, emotional depth and compelling courtroom storytelling,” promises See-Saw’s Liz Watts.
Legacy of Spies
Showrunner: Stephen Cornwell; International distribution: Fifth Season
Matthew Macfadyen stars as spymaster George Smiley in an adaptation of John le Carré’s classic Cold War thriller “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold,” marking, rather remarkably, the book’s first small-screen makeover. Charlie Hunnam and Daniel Brühl are also part of the large British-German cast of “Legacy,” produced by the Ink Factory in a co-production with Amusement Park Film in association with 127 Wall Prods. and Paramount Television Studio, and backed by MGM+ and the BBC.
Line of Fire
Creator: Joshua Safran; International distributor: NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution
Universal Television’s one-hour series, which debuted on NBC in September, was created by “Gossip Girl” and “Quantico” writer Safran and produced by Jenna Bush Hager and Ben Spector. The action-packed drama follows a large family of law enforcement agents who work for different branches and must find a way to balance it all at home. Led by Peter Krause and Hope Davis as the parents, the series mixes the procedural format with the successful recipe of a juicy family drama. The ensemble cast includes Kat Cunning, Tommy O’Brien, Taylor Bloom and Charlie Barnett.
Number 10
Creator-writer: Steven Moffat; International distributor: ITV Studios
Moffat and producer Sue Vertue discussed the series in a hilarious Series Mania masterclass: it’s a “workplace comedy-drama in the most ridiculous workplace,” said Moffat, set at the U.K. prime minister’s residence of 10 Downing Street, “the only terrace house in history with mice and a nuclear deterrent.” Starring Rafe Spall as the beleaguered P.M. and Jenna Coleman as Downing Street deputy chief of staff, the Hartswood Films series is heading to Channel 4/ITVS, and is one of the most eagerly awaited U.K. series of the year.
The Ordinary Jackpot
Writer-director: Yoon Young-bin; International distributor: CJ ENM
CJ ENM’s biggest new series, an ultimately heartwarming 10-episode workplace drama centers on a burned-out office manager who wins a lottery jackpot. Starring fan favorite Lee Jun-hyuk (“Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard”), already sold in major multi-territory streamer deals to Rakuten Viki in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Oceania and India, to TVING Collection on Disney+ Japan and to HBO Max across Asia Pacific. Already a hit in Korea and on streaming service TVING.
To Love Is to Care
Writers: Walcyr Carrasco, Claudia Souto; International distributor: Globo
After its “Emergency 53” scored the first Studio Babelsberg Production Excellence Award at the Berlinale Series Market earlier this year, Globo hits Mipcom with a large-scale series that mixes melodrama, a love story and a whodunnit. Series centers on Adriana, whose life has been torn apart by devastating loss and injustice, but she battles to start once over. A set-piece includes a flood scene shot with an LED wall and 140,000-square-foot artificial lake. Amora Mautner (“Brazil Avenue”) serves as artistic director.
Reputation
Writer-exec producer: Anya Reiss; International distributor: Banijay Entertainment
The top new premium show from the biggest corporate force at Mipcom, “Reputation” weighs in as a pedigree package bound for BBC One and BBC iPlayer and sourced from Banijay U.K. scripted powerhouse the Forge Entertainment (“A Woman of Substance,” “Falling”). Billed as a gripping legal drama, it stars Naomie Harris as a hot-shot lawyer hired to represent international pop star Davina Knight (Christina Hendricks) in the celebrity case of the decade.
Shaka iLembe, Seasons 1 & 2
Creators: Angus Gibson, Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom, Desireé Markgraaff, Catherine Stewart; International distributor: Studiocanal, France
A landmark African series and the biggest production ever from Africa’s leading entertainment platform MultiChoice (owned by Canal+). The first two seasons chart the rise of legendary early 19th century Zulu King Shaka, his brilliant battlefield strategy and struggle to unite Zulu tribes under his empire. Studiocanal will also tease the final Season 3, now shot, of the most-awarded series in the history at the South African Film & Television Awards, with 12 wins.
She Lies in Wait
Writer: Ed Whitmore; International distributor: Studio TF1
“She Lies in Wait” reps the latest example of France’s energetic move into English-language series. It’s produced by Clapperboard Studios (“The Good Ship Murder”), part of the Studio TF1 Group, and commissioned by ITV Studios but sold by Studio TF1. Production launched in September of the cold-case thriller that tracks seven teens who go camping in the U.K.’s New Forest in 2002. One, Aurora, vanishes. Martin McCann plays the lead role of detective inspector Sheens, who investigates years later.
Shy & Lola
Writer: Amanda Coe; International distributor: BBC Studios
While BBC Studios will be at Mipcom with its astonishing “Hidden Planet,” which lifts the lid on the world’s most successful inhabitants, insects, using miniature robotic technology, it’s also pushing what it does so well: crime, comfy or otherwise, from a renowned production house. “Shy & Lola,” from Clarkenwell Films (“Baby Reindeer”), sees Hayley Squires (Shy), a cleaner, and Bel Powley (Lola), an ex-model-turned-grifter, discover an unknown flair for crime, which threatens to blow the local mob out of the water. A “darkly comic thriller,” says BBC Studios.
Up to No Good
Writers: Nina Raine, Moses Raine; International distributor: Sony Pictures Television
Starring Glenn Close, “Up to No Good” has been teased at other events, but Mipcom is the first time SPT is formally bringing it to market. It’s produced by SPT’s U.S. studio and Playground (“Maigret”). Close plays Maud Oldcastle, a cantankerous older woman who’s spent her life caring for her sister, and killing people. Finally, however, a suspicious young cop is closing in. Described as a dark drama, it’s commissioned by the U.K.’s Channel 4. Scribe siblings Nina and Moses Raine are behind acclaimed play “Donkey Heart.”
