Mediawan and Miramax TV have struck a deal to partner on development and production of prestige international scripted content kicking off with adaptations of The Immortals and Chocolat.
The Immortals is a series adaptation of René Barjavel’s best-selling sci-fi conspiracy novel Le Grand Secret (The Immortals) about world leaders who cover up a virus that causes immortality.
Miramax’s global head of television Marc Helwig and vice president of television development Mirsada Abdool Raman will handle production for Miramax alongside head of Mediawan Pictures’ Elisabeth d’Arvieu and Atlantique Productions’ general director Nathalie Perus. Studio heads Pierre- Antoine Capton and Bill Block are also on board as executive producers.
The previously announced French adaptation of Chocolat is based on the Oscar-nominated 2000 feature starring Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche adapted from books by Joanne Harris. French screenwriter Chloé Marçais (Fais Pas Ci, Fais Pas Ça, Le Remplaçant, Les Amateurs) will be adapting in her native French tongue, with Perus executive producing.
The partnership aims to “tell new stories from up-and-coming voices, and to provide new avenues of growth in foreign markets for established talents working with the prolific studios”, the groups said in a statement on Thursday.
D’Arvieu pointed to both Mediawan and Miramax’s “impressive and successful track-record in the industry, in various genres and territories” and said the move “will enhance our joined ability to support talents and develop IPs on the international scale”.
Helwig called Mediwan “one of the most innovative and sought-after studios in Europe, with excellent taste in content” and added: “We are grateful and excited to partner with them to bring more stories to a larger audience, starting with Chocolat and The Immortals.”
The deal is the latest in Mediawan’s global expansion and continues the group’s push into series and films with international appeal. Earlier this week it announced a partnership with Paris-based investment firm Entourage Ventures on a €100m fund to develop series with “strong international potential” over the next four to six years.
The European production powerhouse continues to flex across the globe and now includes more than 60 labels that span drama, feature, animated, unscripted and documentary. Paris-based Atlantique is the production company behind Damien Chazelle’s Netflix musical The Eddy, Tom Fontana’s period series Borgia and the upcoming western Django, co-produced with Italy’s Cattleya that stars Matthias Schoenarts, Noomi Rapace, Nicholas Pinnock and Lisa Viacri that will air on Canal+ on February 13.
The deal also marks another step in Miramax’s strategy to build television content from its extensive IP and film library that also includes series adaptations of Gangs Of New York, executive produced and directed by Martin Scorsese, The Gentlemen from Guy Ritchie with Netflix, a revival of Project Greenlight with Issa Rae for HBO Max, a series adaptation of Robert Altman’s 1994 fashion industry satire Prêt-à-Porter for Paramount+ and an adaptation of Michael Ondaatje’s novel The English Patient with the BBC, among several other prestige projects in the works.
Based in Los Angeles and headed by CEO Block, the global film and television studio notably entered a partnership with Paramount in 2020 to develop new production and co-financing opportunities particularly in TV and streaming.
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