Welcome to our annual selection of the most scorching titles headed to MIPCOM this year, Deadline’s The Hot Ones. Our editorial team, with years of experience and knowledge about what sells globally, has carefully researched and selected the projects we expect to drive the chatter on the Croisette and far beyond.
MIPCOM may be as much a co-production forum as a trading space these days, but it’s still the main place for the world’s TV makers to discover what their counterparts are doing, and what the biggest new shows are likely to be. Here’s our selection of dramas, encompassing everything from Sony Pictures Television’s high-concept series The Miniature Wife to Sphere Abacus’ steamy ice-hockey romp Heated Rivalry through to Richard Gadd muscular transformation in Half Man.
Mint
BBC Studios
Length: 8 x60’
Producers: Fearless Minds, House Productions
Network: BBC
Nurturing the crème de la crème of young movie directors is a raison d’être for BBC Film, so it will have delighted the team to have seen Scrapper helmer Charlotte Regan land her first primetime BBC series in the form of Mint.
Regan’s 2023 debut starred Harris Dickinson as an estranged father who returns to London to look after his daughter, and the indie pic was a critical and commercial success. In Mint, Regan has widened the aperture and secured a buzzy cast, including a rare TV acting performance from Ben Coyle-Larner AKA hip-hop star Loyle Carner.
Mint follows Shannon, the naïve daughter of the area’s dominant crime family, desperately searching for love in the shadow of her gangster father, Dylan (Sam Riley). Having grown up protected within the surreal and violent confines of the ‘family business’, things become complicated when Arran (Coyle-Larner) arrives on the scene. Laura Fraser, Lewis Gribben and Lindsay Duncan also star.
When it comes to Mint, the BBC has “backed Charlotte Regan’s reputation for Scrapper,”says Nick Lee, BBC Studios’ commercial director of drama and comedy, who is about to move to the BBC to run acquisitions.
“This is distinctive,” he adds. “It’s visually, aesthetically and cinematically different to any crime drama you have seen before. You can tell it has come from a storyteller with an authored and cinematic film background. In this cautious market, BBC Studios is keen to back new voices.”
Lee says audiences will “buy into Mint in a Romeo and Juliet kind of way,” while it also experiences elements of The Sopranos with its depiction of the domestic life of a crime family.
For these reasons, plus the fact it is being produced by Oscar-winning Conclave maker House Productions, Lee is licking his lips at the prospect of taking Mint to buyers, and he compares the eight-parter to similar BBC drama Reunion, which just sold to Showtime.
“The appetite is high,” he adds. “You have got to have that good mix within your catalog of specific genre plays and then some IP based around broader, more traditional set-ups.”
BBC Studios is also taking BritBox’s Agatha Christie adaptation Tommy & Tuppence to MIPCOM, along with prison drama Waiting for the Out and W1A creator John Morton’s latest sitcom Twenty Twenty Six.
Queen of Mars
NHK Enterprises
Length: 3 x 89’
Producer: NHK
Network: NHK
Not every pre-production process takes in a real-life rocket launch, but then NHK’s Queen of Mars is not your everyday TV series. For this sci-fi show about the realities of living on Mars 100 years into the future, NHK’s Takegoro Nishimura, a senior producer in the Japanese pubcaster’s drama content team, traveled to the island of Tanegashima to witness the test-launch of JAXA’s new H3 rocket. The lift-off was successful, and although an accident shortly afterwards scuppered the planned landing on Mars’s Phobos moon by two years, Nishimura had his show.
Set in 2125, Queen of Mars follows Lili E1102, who is born and raised on a Mars ruled by the authoritarian Interplanetary Space Development Agency. With discontent brewing, Lili, who is visually impaired, meets Shiraishi Aoto, a young earthling scientist. The two make a secret pact, but on the day of their departure on a mission, Lili is struck by disaster.
NHK has been involved with the real-life Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission and is developing a Super Hi-Vision camera to be mounted on the spacecraft, so it made sense for Nishimura to pursue the drama series and in acclaimed sci-fi novelist Tetsu Ogawa he landed the perfect partner.
For Nishimura, it was important to make the show stand out by focusing on the practicalities of living on a different planet rather than the journey there.
“Rather than portraying Mars as a grand and nearly impossible challenge from a modern sci-fi perspective, this story takes place in a world where ordinary life on Mars has already begun, and this setting offers a very unique balance between science fiction and reality,” he adds.
This can be felt in the fact that many people from different ethnic backgrounds speak in their native languages on this version of Mars, communicating via real-time translation devices. NHK wanted to replicate this melting pot in the casting and landed on Wilderness star Masaki Suda alongside Suri Lin, an up-and-coming Taiwanese actress who starred in last year’s Netflix drama Born for the Spotlight.
Now that filming has wrapped, that universal theme of identity and “sense of wonder of humans living on Mars” is sure to create a buzz when NHK takes the show to buyers at MIPCOM, Nishimura says.
“The speed of light — something humans cannot surpass — creates significant delays in communication across planets,” he adds. “We believe that the drama created by this time lag is both grounded in everyday experience and evokes a sense of universal empathy.”
Kill Jackie
Fremantle (Steel Spring Pictures in the U.S.)
Length: 8 x 60’
Producers: Fremantle and Steel Springs Pictures
Network: Prime Video (In several European territories plus Canada)
When Catherine Zeta-Jones is interested in and engaged with a project, you don’t say no.
Fremantle knew it was on to a winner when Zeta-Jones made her desires known to not only produce a version of Aidan Truhen’s “gonzo thriller” The Price You Pay, but also play the lead — a lead that would be gender-flipped from the novel.
In Kill Jackie, Zeta-Jones is Jackie Price, who has been living a wealthy, luxurious existence for the last 20 years — traveling the world, selling fine art using sophisticated tax loopholes and, above all, trying to stay anonymous after escaping a dangerous past as an international cocaine dealer. Just as life starts to feel a little boring, it takes a sudden lethal turn when she discovers that The Seven Demons, a squad of the world’s most terrifying hitmen, have been hired to kill her.
Zeta-Jones’ desire to get involved early in the process drove Kill Jackie forward. Assembling a creative team including writer Tom Butterworth (Gangs of London)and director Damon Thomas (Killing Eve)then helped things along nicely, says Rebecca Dundon, Fremantle’s SVP, head of scripted commercial, global drama and commercial & international.
“This was generated in-house and was one that everyone was talking about internally,” Dundon adds. “It felt like it had all the ingredients primed for a market looking for cut-through, it being a distinct, mainstream show that could genuinely appeal internationally.”
Zeta-Jones wanted to play the lead from the start and will star alongside the likes of The Gentlemen actor Daniel Ings. Dundon stresses that changing the protagonist from man to woman in the TV show felt “organic.”
Kill Jackie has been financially pieced together in a distinctly modern way, with Fremantle deficit-financing and Prime Video landing a number of key European territories plus Canada early on. Most of the rest of the world is up for grabs, including the U.S., where co-producer Steel Springs Pictures is distributing.
Dundon says this reflects the reality of financing premium drama in the wake of the U.S. labor strikes and financial slowdown.
“There is a ceiling on the funding you can raise from international, and the U.S. has slightly constricted in the aftermath of the strikes and Covid” she adds. “So, we are having to be more creative with modelling, looking at new ways and structures of bringing these shows to life.”
The Miniature Wife
Sony Pictures Television
Length: 10 x 60’
Producer: Media Res
Network: Peacock
Sony is going big on The Miniature Wife in Cannes with a screening in the famed Grand Auditorium at MIPCOM. Stars Matthew Macfadyen, O-T Fagbenle, and Sian Clifford are headed to the Cote D’Azur and will be in attendance.
In a TV world in which commissioners are often accused of being risk-averse, the series lives up to its high-concept billing, which is one way to pique buyer interest at a MIPCOM market awash in drama. The 10-parter is produced by Media Res and based on the short story written by Manuel Gonzalez about a man who accidentally shrinks his wife.
The series examines the power balance, or imbalance, between spouses. The couple in question are Lindy, played by Elizabeth Banks, and Les, played by Macfadyen. They battle each other for supremacy after the shrinking accident and the understandable relationship crisis that ensues.
A blend of comedy and drama, the show will play on Peacock in the U.S. next year. Sony Pictures Television is on sales duty. Mike Wald, SPT’s co-president, distribution & Network: s, says buzz has been building among international acquisition execs since the studio gave them a sneak peek at this year’s LA Screenings in May.
“Buyers everywhere are chasing bold content that commands attention and delivers marketing muscle,” he says. “With The Miniature Wife, you start with a high-concept idea that is both fresh and wildly inventive, add in huge star power led by Elizabeth Banks and Matthew Macfadyen, and you have a series that will overdeliver for any service.”
Wald adds that the show could land with various types of buyers. “What makes this series so great to sell is that it is suitable for any audience and that has certainly been reflected in the early interest we have seen, from streamers to pay-TV to free-TV.”
Jennifer Ames (Boardwalk Empire) and Steve Turner(Goliath), are showrunners and exec producers. Other cast includes Zoe Lister-Jones and Sofia Rosinsky as regulars, and Ronny Chieng, Aasif Mandvi, Rong Fu and Tricia Black in recurring roles. The MIPCOM crowd will get to see one episode at the market screening.
Little F*cker
Yes Studios
Length: 7 x 30’
Producer: Tedy TV
Network: Yes TV
Little F*cker is a dark, coming-of-age comedy focused on a dysfunctional family’s generational feud. From Tedy, the label behind the original version of Euphoria, the show was created by Ariel Waysman and Viv Majar for Yes TV in Israel.
It follows Shay, a 12-year-old misfit. He is bullied at school and ignored by the adults in his life — until he catches his dad, Yaki, cheating. Shay blackmails him, triggering a father-son feud. Things get complicated when Shay recruits the neighborhood creep for backup and Yaki brings in an ex-cop to smoke out his blackmailer. As their schemes spiral, father and son are forced into an uneasy alliance to save the family from total implosion.
Yes Studios, known for distributing shows including Fauda, is handling international sales. It will launch Little F*cker in Cannes and will be shopping the finished tape as well as remake rights. It has a solid pedigree in terms of format sales, striking multiple deals for local versions of drama series Your Honor in recent months.
“Little F*cker is an edgy comedy that deals with universal themes of father-son relationships, school yard bullying and family dynamics,” says Sharon Levi, managing director of yes Studios. Drawing inspiration from the suburban black comedies of [filmmaker and playwright] Todd Solondz, the self-centered characters of Danny McBride, and the chaotic storytelling of the Coen brothers, this series delves into the consequences of a family unraveling when all the rules are broken.
If standing out at a market as huge as MIPCOM is a challenge, having shows with arresting titles is one way to quickly gain attention from buyers. Little F*cker duly delivers, but it is the relatable themes and characters in the comedy that will win over the acquisitions folk, says Levi.
“Due to these universal themes and the wonderfully drawn characters, we anticipate positive responses to both the [finished] series and the format at MIPCOM,” she says. “The format has high potential for remakes in various territories around the world, notably in Europe and North America, where edgy stories tend to resonate well with audiences.”
Ku’damm 77
ZDF Studios
Length: 3 x 60’
Producer: UFA Fiction
Network: ZDF
The latest installment in the Ku’damm German drama franchise will have its world premiere at MIPCOM. Historical family drama Ku’damm 77 follows on from earlier shows Ku’damm 56, Ku’damm 59 and Ku’damm 63. Each one is set in the year contained in the title and follows the Schöllack family and events at a dance school that bears their name.
The Ku’damm in the title of the drama refers to the famous Berlin avenue, Kurfürstendamm, where the series is set. Earlier seasons were praised for their nuanced storytelling, historical detail, and exploration of women’s roles in post-war Germany.
Picking up the family’s story in 1977, the apartment above the dance school now accommodates three generationsSisters Monika (Sonja Gerhardt) and Helga (Maria Ehrich), their almost adult daughters Dorli (Carlotta Bähre) and Friederike (Marie Louise Albertine Becker), and their mother and grandmother Caterina (Claudia Michelsen).
With three generations living cheek by jowl, the drama that plays out serves as a magnifying glass on the family itself as well as wider society in a vibrant but divided Berlin. The series was filmed in the city.
Annette Hess created the show and has written each season of the drama. One of Germany’s foremost creative voices, Hess was the recipient of Deadline’s first-ever German TV Disruptor accolade in 2024. Her other work includes We Children from Bahnhof Zoo for Prime Video and The Interpreter of Silence for Disney+.
The Ku’damm series are all for German pubcaster ZDF, with German powerhouse producer UFA Fiction making the drama. ZDF Studios is handling distribution. The earlier installments sold well, so hopes are high for the new season as the action fast-forwards to the 1970s.
“Ku’damm 77 will stand out in a crowded market because it doesn’t just revisit history, it reclaims it through the lens of fierce, flawed, unforgettable women,” says Sebastian Krekeler, deputy head of drama at ZDF Studios. “With its rich emotional tapestry, iconic Berlin setting, and the creative pedigree of Annette Hess, ZDF and UFA Fiction, this season taps into the cultural pulse of the 1970s while staying deeply relevant to today’s audiences.”
Krekeler says the sales strategy is built around highlighting the emotional punch that Ku’damm 77 packs. “We’re targeting platforms and broadcasters that value prestige drama with strong female leads, intergenerational storytelling and a proven track record of audience engagement. Ku’damm isn’t just a series, it’s a brand with legacy and momentum.”
Heated Rivalry
Sphere Abacus
Length: 6 x 60’
Producer: Accent Aigu Entertainment
Network: Crave
There are several reasons why Heated Rivalry will be one of the most talked-about dramas launching at MIPCOM Cannes. With Heartstopper coming to an end, it appears an ideal time for a new LGBTQ+ romantic drama to take its place, and execs at commissioner Crave consider it one of the biggest bets they’ve made in recent years.
Another big reason is the premise — a steamy gay romance story that follow a pair of professional ice hockey rivals who harbor a secretAway from the ice where they chase the same scoring records and Olympic dreams, they secretly yearn for each other. Over an eight-year period their secret romance solidifies into love, as in the original book from author Rachel Reid.
Shane Hollander, the serious-minded captain of the Montreal Meteors, and star and playboy Ilya Rozanov of the Boston Bears are played by Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, respectively. Jacob Tierney, the writer and co-creator, predicts the “pull of the casting chemistry” will chime with audiences. “Their connection feels so real, as Rachel allowed for this complicated dynamic that grows over several years.”
Reid is a consulting producer, with Tierney and Brendan Brady from Accent Aigu Entertainment leading the adaptation. The duo is among the hottest TV talents in Canada right now, coming off hits Letterkenny and Shoresy.
A Washington Post article on the value of romantic novels had initially triggered them to rush to option what Tierney says are “very, very spicy books” from the ‘MM romance’ sub-genre — novels written by women about gay male relationships. “I was in a blind panic that we would lose out, so I followed Rachel Reid on Instagram and sent her a note asking if there was world where we could option them. She was very excited.”
A pilot was then written on spec before Crave signed up, with the sales arm at it’s parent Bell Media initially taking the rights. Sphere Abacus, the U.K.-based sales house that is is part of Bell, now has the rights and will be shopping them in Cannes. “Crave knew that if we could figure out how to crack this, there is an audience that not only wants it, but would be so excited about it — an audience that doesn’t normally speak up,” says Tierney.
Brady adds, “These kinds of books can be dismissed as not having a pedigree to them, but Jacob really encapsulated during the pitch how seriously he was taking it, and that it could be prestige and something extremely creative.”
At the core is the relationship between Shane and Ilya, and while ice hockey is a relatively niche international sport, Tierney says fans are “obsessed” with their book iterations.
Blind Sherlock
Studio TF1
Length: 6 x 52’
Producer: DeMensen
Networks: Netflix, ZDF
The idea for Blind Sherlock came from the story of Sacha Van Loo, a blind man who helped the wiretap unit of the Belgian police. Series showrunner Kristof Hofkens was working as a journalist at the time, and his colleague’s story sparked the idea that eventually turned into Studio TF1’s MIPCOM Cannes drama launch.
Hoefkens and his co-writer Maarten Fabricio Goffin, who along with director Joost Wynant made the widely sold drama The Bank Hacker, later met with Van Loo. They discovered he’d helped crack hundreds of cases over a 12-year period, including once identifying the exact Eastern European village a suspect came from purely based on their wiretap accent.
After “talking for hours,” as Hoefkens recalls, they were convinced a blind protagonist was the twist needed to reinvent the crime genre. The wheels went into motion to find a blind lead, which ended with the casting of Bart Kelchtermans. Frank Lammers also stars alongside Ayşegül Karaca.
The series, set in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, where violence and crime are escalating, sees Roman Mertens (Kelchtermans) recruited to join a specialist wiretapping police team. Though he’s skeptical, his heightened senses and unique ability to undercover hidden details from the wiretaps astonish his colleagues and make him indispensable. However, as he delves deeper in the criminal underworld, he experiences personal threats and is caught in a web of dark secrets.
“What we really like about the premise of this show is that it is a cop show with a very unexpected hero,” says Ivy Vanhaecke, the scripted chief at DeMensen. “Our society has a narrow vision of what ‘talent’ means. Only ‘normal’ people count, but as Roman, the Blind Sherlock, demonstrates, there’s a hero inside of everyone.”
“The way the series addresses disability makes it very distinctive compared to other series, and it is handled in a really sensitive and modern way,” adds Camille Dupeuble, EVP international TV and digital distribution at Studio TF1, which will be shopping it in Cannes.
Netflix has taken rights to the Benelux region, with ZDF attached for German rights. All others are available, with Studio TF1 targeting European sales, as some other territories remain uncomfortable buying non-English-language international scripted.
Dupeuble says another major focus will be shopping the format rights, with several other European drama titles having been developed abroad recently. “There is really strong potential for remakes,” she says. “That’s a core of our strategy.”
At MIPCOM, Studio TF1 will already have launched a trailer. The series will also have featured in a “unique digital upfront” that the TF1-owned production and sales house has hosted over recent weeks. “The goal is to create a buzz before the market,” says Dupeuble.
Half Man
Banijay Entertainment
Length: 6 x 60’
Producer: Mam Tor Productions
Network: BBC, HBO
Richard Gadd’s next project after Baby Reindeer was always going to drum up major international buzz, and Half Man is doing just that.
Following the unexpected mega-success of his Netflix hit about a stand-up comedian/bartender stalked by a customer, he struck a first-look deal with the global streamer to create new shows. However, his next project was already in the works at the BBC and HBO, with Banijay Entertainment — parent of Half Man maker Mam Tor Productions — attached as the international distributor. MIPCOM Cannes will see it launch globally.
The series was, we understand, due for an earlier release, but was delayed due to Baby Reindeer. “After that, people started asking what Richard Gadd’s next project would be,” recalls Cathy Payne, CEO of distributor Banijay Rights.
The plot follows Gadd and Jamie Bell as two estranged ‘brothers’ Ruben and Niall, who have a surprise reunion in Glasgow, Scotland, that results in an explosion of violence. The audience are taken back through their lives, from the 1980s through to the current day, as the story unfolds. Stuart Campbell and Mitchell Robertson play Ruben and Niall in their younger years.
“Lots of shows about relationships are about sisters, but this is a really interesting story told from a male perspective,” says Payne. “It’s powerful and confronting.”
First looks at the series grew gasps as Gadd’s previously thin frame from Baby Reindeer bulked out for his role as the troubled Ruben. “People have wanted to know what he’s been doing. Richard is a unique talent, writer, performer, producer and auteur who takes his time.”
While the show was originally developed for the BBC, HBO quickly joined as a co-producer and deals are in place elsewhere, notably with Stan in Australia. “People have known Half Man is on our slate, and buyers have read the scripts and committed to the show,” says Payne.
The success of Baby Reindeer and that other major British Netflix hit of recent years, Adolescence, have only heightened interest here. “They elevated the interest — British stories told in limited series format that are confronting and different,” says Payne.
Banijay Rights will have a trailer at MIPCOM, as large marketing campaigns kick off at the BBC and HBO. “Lots of people will want to go day-and-date, and people want to commit marketing dollars,” says Payne. “That’s the indication we’re getting.”
Empathy
Beta Film
Length: 10 x 60’
Producer: Trio Orange
Networks: Crave, Canal+
French-language drama Empathy explores the depths of mental illness. It tells the story of Suzanne (Florence Longpré), a criminologist-turned-psychiatrist who goes to work at a psychiatric institute in Montreal, Canada. There, she befriends an intriguing security officer, Mortimer (Thomas Ngijol), and meets a variety of patients with compelling stories.
Longpré’s credits include Can You Hear Me, which was picked up by Netflix, and she has created and written Empathy, and is also showrunner. The series was directed by Guillaume Lonergan and bowed on Bell Media’s Canadian streamer Crave.
Season 1 was produced by Trio Orange in collaboration with Crave parent company Bell Media and was picked up by French pay-TV giant Canal+, which played it as an original on home turf. It then boarded Season 2 as a co-producer, marking the first time Canal+ and Crave have partnered in this way.
Beta Film has taken distribution rights and the signs are good ahead of the big sales push at MIPCOM. The drama scooped the Audience Award at Series Mania back in March, where it became the first French-Canadian series to play in the event’s international competition. It also got a pre-MIPCOM boost by playing at the Festival de la Fiction de La Rochelle in September.
“Empathy is such a warm- hearted and unique series, it stole our hearts instantly,” says Oliver Bachert, Beta Film’s chief distribution officer. “With great sensitivity and from a compassionate yet honest perspective, the series explores the topic of mental health, without falling into cliches or reinforcing stigma.”
Beta Film handled international sales on another Longpré project, Audrey’s Back, which took top honors at the 2022 edition of the Canneseries drama festival. The distributor sold that show to Canal+ and Italian pubcaster RAI among others, and hopes are high for Empathy.
“We are very proud to once more collaborate with Florence Longpré,” says Bachert. “Through smart dialogue and a brilliant cast, Longpré, the creator, writer and star of the series, thoughtfully reconciles light and dark moments of human life, bringing tears of joy and sadness to the viewer’s eyes.”
Riot Women
Mediawan Rights
Length: 6 x 52’
Producer: Drama Republic
Networks: BBC, BritBox
Riot Women is the latest drama from British scribe Sally Wainwright, whose writing achieves that unusual trick of being both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. At the center of this one is a story about five women in the middle of their lives in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, who decide to form a punk-rock group, initially for a local talent competition. However, facing issues such as marital concerns, complex family dynamics and menopause, they find they have much more to say, or shout, about.
Joanna Scanlan, Tamsin Greig, Lorraine Ashbourne, Amelia Bullmore and Rosalie Craig star in the six-part Drama Republic series, which was inspired by Wainwright’s “long-standing interest in portraying the lives of women in midlife and the challenges they face,” says Valérie Vleeschouwer, managing director of distributor Mediawan Rights. The series is also a nod to classic British musical series Rock Follies of ’77, which Wainwright had watched as a teenager. Wainwright even learned to play the drums herself during the research for the show.
“Her hallmark lies in creating complex female characters, with writing that is both realistic and profoundly humane,” says Vleeschouwer. “Riot Women promises to be a series with universal and powerful themes, blending warmth, humor and emotion as it explores the strength of friendship, the liberating power of music, and the resilience of women in midlife who refuse to be silenced or to ‘act their age.’”
Vleeschouwer adds that “unlike crime dramas or historical series, which can rely on plot or context, Riot Women depends on the authenticity of the performances and the actresses’ ability to convey universal emotions.”
Alongside the actresses playing the main band members are Taj Atwal, Chandeep Uppal and Macy Seelochan, who play riotous backup singers. Further cast includes Anne Reid, Sue Johnston, Peter Davison, Claire Skinner, Mark Bazeley, Amit Shah, Natalia Tena, Olwen May and Thomas Flynn.
Notably, the series features original songs from Brighton punk duo ARXX. The BBC commissioned the show for the U.K., with BritBox taking Canada and U.S. rights. Mediawan Rights, which is shopping the show with the participation of Entourage Ventures, will be seeking to strike deals elsewhere. Given the popularity of Wainwright — her credits include Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax, Gentleman Jack, Renegade Nell and Scott & Bailey — this has a pedigree for wide sales, as Network: s and streamers continue to hunt for shows with female appeal.
The ‘Burbs
NBCUniversal
Length: 8 x 60’
Producers: Universal Content Productions, Fuzzy Door, Imagine Entertainment
Network: Peacock
The ‘Burbs, a contemporary retelling of the 1989 comedy movie starring Tom Hanks, Carrie Fisher and Bruce Dern, is a nostalgic nod to the past and, for some buyers, potentially a key title in their platform’s future.
Universal Content Productions is the studio making the series alongside Seth MacFarlane’s Fuzzy Door and Imagine Entertainment, the Ron Howard- and Brian Glazer-owned production house that made the original movie. The show is even shooting on the same Los Angeles location as the film, at the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood. MacFarlane and Glazer are among the exec producers and Dana Olsen, the writer of the film directed by Joe Dante, will serve as co-executive producer.
This time round, Celeste Hughey is the creator and showrunner, overseeing a high-quality acting cast that includes Keke Palmer and Jack Whitehall as the leads, and the likes of Mark Proksch in an ensemble supporting cast.
The action has been moved to contemporary times, but the plot is largely the same as the film. It follows a young couple in present-day suburbia who have reluctantly relocated to the husband’s childhood hometown. Their world is upended when a new neighbor moves in across the street, bringing old secrets of the cul-de-sac to light, and new deadly threats shatter the idylic illusion of their quiet little neighborhood.
“The combination of the series’ all-star creative team, a stellar ensemble cast led by Keke Palmer and Jack Whitehall, and built-in brand recognition, positions this dark comedy for broad appeal,” says Michael Bonner, president of NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution. “We expect particularly strong interest from buyers who are seeking fun, character-driven series that blend sharp humor and suburban intrigue in a format that can drive consistent viewership.”
There’s a sense among some buyers that imported comedy remains a difficult buy, but Bonner notes NBCU has been on a hot streak, with single-cams such as The Paper and St. Denis Medical and comedy-dramas such as Hacks, Based on a True Story and now The ‘Burbs all selling well. “These titles are resonating with buyers around the world, proving that smart, well-executed comedy remains a globally viable genre,” says Bonner.
He adds that The ‘Burbs has already been pre-sold to several territories after it was soft-launched earlier in the year. NBCU sales staff are treating their trip to Cannes as the full launch. “There are numerous ongoing client discussions for the series as well,” says Bonner. “We are expecting to finalize a number of these conversations at MIPCOM.”