Marie Antoinette will head from Versailles to the US with Banijay Rights announcing the pre-sale of the French-produced English-language prestige costume drama to PBS Distribution on the eve of Mipcom.
The eight-part series from creator and writer Deborah Davis, best known for The Favourite, will premiere in North America in spring 2023. Produced by Banijay Studios France, Capa Drama and Les Gens, the Canal+ Creation Originale has already been pre-sold to UK public broadcaster BBC2 and BBC First in Australia. It will air on Canal+ in France in October.
This modern Marie Antoinette is a new take on the avant-garde young queen, played by Emilia Schüle, whose credits includee Ku’damm 56/63. It follows her journey from a young teenager who leaves Austria to marry the Dauphin of France and has to learn to navigate the rules of the French court, before becoming the royal icon of legend who displayed an ahead-of-her-time feminism and independence.
Davis co-wrote alongside Louise Ironside (The Split), Avril E. Russell (All On A Summer’s Day) and Chloë Moss (Run Sister Run). The series is directed by Pete Travis (Bloodlands) and Geoffrey Enthoven (Children Of Love). The series was shot in several prestigious historical locations throughout France including the famed Versailles chateau, and in the emblematic studios of Bry-sur-Marne outside of Paris.
Matt Creasey, EVP sales, acquisitions and co-productions, who negotiated the deal for Banijay Rights, called the series “a visually stunning drama from the exceptional Deborah Davis that continues to generate a buzz worldwide”.
He added: “This epic series is one of the most complete accounts of the young queen to date and we’re pleased that audiences in the US will get to enjoy it soon.”
Marie Antoinette is produced by Claude Chelli and Margaux Balsan for Capa Drama, Stéphanie Chartreux for Banijay Studios France, and Christophe Toulemonde for Les Gens.
Banijay is bringing a large slate to this year’s Mipcom, and will have a new eco-friendly, two-story stand outside the front of the Palais and a team of more than 200 staffers and talent in tow. CEO Marco Bassetti will deliver a keynote to talk about the global production and distribution powerhouse’s strategy and wider industry trends.
Other premium fiction titles on Banijay Rights’ Mipcom slate at the market include Second World War drama Rogue Heroes written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders), Shine Fiction’s Serial Lover and Bali 2002 from Endemol Shine Australia and Screentime based on the 2002 terrorist attacks on Bali’s tourist hotspots.
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