EXCLUSIVE: Here’s an eye-catching deal to kick off Cannes: Hulu has taken U.S. rights to Paris Has Fallen, the StudioCanal series based on Gerard Butler‘s Has Fallen film franchise.
Hulu plans to premiere the drama, which stars Spiral actor Tewfik Jallab, later this year after it made a strong debut in France, where it has become a top-three original on Canal+.
StudioCanal has closed a string of other deals for Paris Has Fallen, including with Amazon Prime Video in the UK and Ireland, and SBS in Australia. The eight-part series is a co-production with ZDF, which will house the show in Germany.
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Paris Has Fallen is made by StudioCanal, War of the Worlds producer Urban Myth Films, and two companies behind the film franchise: Millennium Media and Butler’s G-BASE. Eclectic Pictures is also attached.
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Jallab plays Vincent Taleb, a protection officer to a French Minister, who is the target of a terror group led by villain Jacob. Vincent works with MI6 operative Zara (Ritu Arya) to keep the politician safe, but they eventually unravel a wider plot, suspecting that a security service colleague is feeding information to Jacob, who is always a step ahead in his mission to bring down Paris.
Anne Chérel, StudioCanal’s chief commercial officer, told Deadline: “Because it is based on the Has Fallen franchise, that is something that was important to them [Hulu]. It is something they were very familiar with. After the Olympics, for Hulu and other partners around the world, having the first season in Paris was really exciting.”
Chloe Marquet, StudioCanal’s head of international sales for films and TV series, added: “They said it was like Die Hard but with a modern twist. They wanted to speak to that audience, who are maybe a bit nostalgic for these films.”
Chérel said the hope is that the Has Fallen series can return. “It will obviously depend on how successful the series is in France, but also in other geographies,” she said. “The plan would be to go to another city. There are so many opportunities in terms of fascinating cities.”
Other titles StudioCanal is taking to Cannes include Playing Nice, ITV’s adaptation of JP Delaney’s bestselling novel starring James Norton and Niamh Algar, and A Better Place, the German series that asks: What if we were able to create a world without prisons?
The company is also representing formats such as Hit The Mic!, a collaboration with Mediawan in which would-be sports commentators take each other on in grand competitions and sequences.
Johnny Capps, Julian Murphy, and Overman produce Paris Has Fallen for Urban Myth, which is owned by StudioCanal. Overseeing for G-Base is Butler and Alan Siegel; for Millenium Avi Lerner, Jeffrey Greenstein, Jonathan Yunger, and Yariv Lerner; and Heidi Jo Markel from Eclectic Pictures. Lati Grobman is also an executive producer.
Other deals include Italy (Mediaset Italy); Spain & Andorra (Movistar Plus+); Portugal & PALOP (NOS); French Speaking Belgium (BeTV); Dutch-Speaking Belgium (DPG); Netherlands (RTL); Austria & Switzerland (CANAL+); Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia (M7); Poland (CANAL+); Bulgaria & Balkans (CineStar TV); Russia, C.I.S & Ukraine (Top Film); Scandinavia (Prime Video); Africa (Prime Video); French Speaking Africa (CANAL+); French overseas & Mauritius (CANAL+); Vietnam & Myanmar (CANAL+); Indian Subcontinent and Philippines (Lionsgate Play); Hong Kong (Now TV Hong Kong); Taiwan & Indonesia (Catchplay+); English & French Speaking Canada (Bell Media); Israel (Hot, Yes).