MHz Choice acquires Fremantle’s German Angela Merkel detective comedy

Katharina Thalbach stars in Miss Merkel

Kino Lorber-owned streaming service MHz Choice has acquired the exclusive US rights to tongue-in-cheek German detective two-parter Miss Merkel from Fremantle.

The 2×90′ comedy, based on the books of the same name by writer, humorist and actor David Safier, will premiere on October 22 in the US.

It imagines former German chancellor Angela Merkel leaving politics behind and moving to a small town with her husband and her pug as she discovers a new calling as an amateur detective solving murders.

Veteran German actor Katharina Thalbach (The Tin Drum) stars as Merkel. The TV adaptations were written by Safier and Stefan Cantz (Tatort) and directed by Christoph Schnee (Homicide Hills). Produced by Letterbox Filmproduktion, it launched in Germany on RTL last year.

“I committed to this series before my sales agent had finished her pitch. It’s such an
idiosyncratic premise that I knew it had to be right,” said Lance Schwulst, executive VP of content strategy at MHz Choice, adding that a third instalment is planned.

MHz Choice recently premiered season four of acclaimed drama Babylon Berlin, having merged with First Look Media’s streaming service Topic earlier this year. The combined service offers a catalogue of classic and exclusive popular international series including The Killing, The Bridge, Murder In…, Detective Montalbano, Tatort, Pagan Peak, A French Village, Spiral, Beck and Prisoners of War.