Federation Studios boards Garry Kasparov chess drama miniseries Rematch

Rematch stars Christian Cooke

Paris-based Federation has signed on to handle international distribution of chess-focused miniseries Rematch.

The psychological thriller, which was commissioned by Arte in France, is based on the real-life match between chess world champion Garry Kasparov and IBM supercomputer Deep Blue, which took place in 1997.

Directed and co-created by Quebec-based Yan England, the 6×52’ series is wrapping production later this week after filming in Montreal and Budapest.

It is produced by Arte France and Bruno Nahon’s French prodco Unité alongside Federation Studios. England, whose other credits include 1:54, Sam, True North and The Red Band Society, created the series with André Gulluni and Nahon.

The project stars Christian Cooke (The Promise, That Dirty Black Bag), Sarah Bolger (The Tudors, Counterpart), Trine Dyrholm (The Legacy, Bauhaus – A New Era), Aidan Quinn (Elementary, Legends of the Fall), Tom Austen (The Royals), Luke Pasqualino (Skins) and Orion Lee (First Cow).

Other recent dramas projects from Federation Studios (fka Federation Entertainment) include cult spy series The Bureau (Canal+), financial thriller Bad Banks (ZDF, Arte), live-action tween series Find Me in Paris (Hulu), Baby (Netflix), Varane: Destin de Champion (Amazon Prime-Video), Nadia (Canal+) and Around the World in 80 Days, the latter of which stars David Tennant and is produced for the European Alliance (consisting of France Télévisions, ZDF and Rai), the BBC and PBS Masterpiece.