First Blue Planet, now Planet Earth

MIP NEWS – With the theatrical version of the BBC's Blue Planet in post, the German company behind the project is now looking at adapting another BBC NHU show for the big screen.

Currently in production, the $25m 12-part BBC/Discovery coproduction Planet Earth looks set to be the next project to fall under Greenlight Media's five-picture deal with the BBC's renowned Natural History Unit in Bristol.

{It's another big landmark series that has caught our eye,{ Greenlight's vp of production Sophokles Tasioulis told C21. {There aren't that many shows that could make the switch to the big screen but we think Planet Earth could.{

{With TV documentaries it's all about information, but with a theatrical documentary is about taking the audience on an emotional journey.{

He added that in reversioning such docs for the big screen, an entirely different demographic is targeted. {The average age for a TV documentary audience is about 50 but for a cinemas audience it's between 15 and 35. It doesn't really cannibalise the TV audience.{

Deep Blue, the cinema title of Blue Planet, is released this September and Tasioulis confirmed that David Attenborough would not appear in the theatrical version. {His voice is so strongly associated with television.{

Instead, Greenlight is lining up some Hollywood names to revoice the film.