Sky in UK becomes latest Euro broadcaster to pick up eco thriller The Swarm

The Swarm is based on the book by Frank Schätzing

MIPTV: Ecological thriller The Swarm is set to air in the UK on pay TV broadcaster Sky through a deal between distributors Beta Film and ZDF Studios.

The Swarm has drawn more than 10 million viewers on Germany’s ZDF and ORF in Austria following its world premiere at Berlinale earlier this year. It has now been picked up by Sky and will air on its Sky Max channel later this year.

Movistar+ has also acquired the series for Spain, while negotiations with a US broadcaster are said to be in the final stages.

Other broadcast partners include Viaplay in Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, Hulu Japan, Italy’s Rai, France Télévisions and SRF in Switzerland. Beta Film and ZDF Studios are handling world sales together.

Produced by Frank Doelger (Game of Thrones), The Swarm is based on Frank Schätzing’s international bestseller and stars Alexander Karim (The Lawyer), Cécile de France (The New Pope), Leonie Benesch (Babylon Berlin, The Crown), Barbara Sukowa (Hannah Arendt) and Takuya Kimura (2046, I Come With The Rain).

The series follows the struggle of humanity against an unknown enemy that lives in the depths of the sea. When the reckless treatment of the oceans threatens the natural habitat of this mysterious collective, it strikes back.

The 8×60’ series is produced by Schwarm TV Productions, a joint venture between Intaglio Films and ndF, for ZDF, France Télévisions, Rai Fiction, Viaplay Group, Hulu Japan, ORF and SRF. It is a coproduction with Bravado Fiction and Beside Production in co-operation with ATHOS KG.

At a Beta Film event here in Cannes last night, buyers also saw the first trailer for period drama La Storia and footage of historical action-drama Rise of the Raven.

La Storia (8×50’) is based on the novel by Elsa Morante. Set during the Second World War, it tells the story of Ida Ramundo, a Jewish Italian school teacher living in Rome with her son Nino. Nine months after a violent encounter with a young German soldier, she gives birth to Useppe, who becomes Ida’s only companion when Nino leaves for the front line.

Directed by Francesca Archibugi, it stars Jasmine Trinca, Asia Argento, Elio Germano and Valerio Mastandrea. It is produced by Picomedia, Thalie Images and Beta Group for Rai Fiction. Beta handles world sales.

Rise of the Raven (10×50’), which is currently in production in Hungary, is set in the 15th century and follows army commander Janos Hunyadi, whose life is plagued by scandal, political power plays and conspiracies between noble families in Warsaw, Rome, Belgrade and Vienna.

Produced by Serendipity Point Films, Twin Media, HG Media, MR Film and Beta Group for ORF in Austria and Hungary’s TV2, it stars Gellért L Kádár, Vivien Rujder, Laurence Rupp, Muranthan Muslu and Francesco Acquaroli. Beta is also handling international distribution.

German shepherd dog Diesel vom Burgimwald, the four-legged star of Beta’s Canadian crime drama Hudson & Rex, is also in town with his human co-star John Reardon to mark the 100th episode of the series, which is from Shaftesbury, Pope Productions, Beta Film and Citytvl. Canneseries hosted the international premiere of the show’s fourth season.

Beta’s slate also includes AI surveillance thriller Concordia (6×60’); Estonia (8×60’), about the sinking of the ferry MS Estonia in 1994 with the loss of more than 850 lives; period drama Hotel Portofino (18×60’); Italian series The Sea Beyond (48×60’), the third season of which will have its international premiere in Cannes today; and Germany’s I Am Scrooge (6×60’), the true story of a department store extortionist in the 1980s.