Netflix preps UN diplomat biopic

Greenhouse Academy will get third and fourth seasons on Netflix

Netflix has tapped Narcos star Wagner Moura to play the lead in a biopic of celebrated Brazilian-born United Nations (UN) diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello.

The as-yet-untitled feature is being adapted from Pulitzer Prize winner Samantha Power’s biography Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World.

De Mello rose through the ranks to become the UN’s high commissioner for human rights. Before he was killed in a terrorist bombing in 2003, de Mello was widely expected to be the next UN secretary general.

Greg Barker (The Final Year, Manhunt: The Inside Story of the Hunt for Bin Laden) will direct, marking his first time helming a scripted project, while Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club) will write.

The show will be produced by Brent Travers of Black Rabbit Media, Daniel Dreifuss of Anima Pictures and Moura’s company Itapoan. Filming is due to begin in August and Netflix will release the film globally in 2019.

Other cast members include Ana De Armas (Blade Runner 2049), Garret Dillahunt, Will Dalton, Clemens Schick and Brían F O’Byrne.

In related news, Netflix has commissioned third and fourth seasons of teen drama Greenhouse Academy, which is made by Ananey Communcations-owned Nutz Productions in Israel.

The series is a remake of Nutz’s original production The Greenhouse, which was created by Giora Chamcizer and ran for three seasons on Nickelodeon Israel exclusively for Yes TV.

Greenhouse Academy is set in an elite boarding school for the gifted on the shores of southern California, where students are divided into two rival houses but have to combine forces to thwart an evil plot.