Sony’s The Winter King, Twisted Metal, Ten Pound Poms find buyers globally
Arthurian series The Winter King is adapted from the novels by Bernard Cornwell
International buyers have picked up ITVX/MGM+ epic The Winter King, PlayStation game adaptation Twisted Metal and BBC/Stan drama Ten Pound Poms from Sony Pictures Television (SPT), which kicks off its 2023 LA Screenings today.
The Winter King, the Arthurian tale based on the bestselling novels by Bernard Cornwell and produced by SPT-backed Bad Wolf, has been acquired across the Middle East for BeIN, in India on SonyLIV and in Australia by Stan.
With a cast including Iain De Caestecker, Ellie James and Eddie Marsan, the series has been co-commissioned by ITVX in the UK and MGM+ in the US.
Based on the classic PlayStation game series and starring Anthony Mackie (The Falcon & The Winter Soldier) and Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), action-comedy drama Twisted Metal has secured international sales so far in India (SonyLIV), New Zealand (TVNZ), Australia (Stan), the Middle East (BeIN), Central and Eastern Europe (HBO and HBO Max) and across sub-Saharan Africa on Mnet’s Showmax. The series will have its world premiere on Peacock in the US on June 27.
Action-comedy Twisted Metal was based on a PlayStation game
Ten Pound Poms, meanwhile, has been acquired in France by OCS, India by SonyLIV and New Zealand by TVNZ.
The drama, produced by SPT-backed Eleven and starring Michelle Keegan and Warren Brown, follows a family as they arrive in Sydney in the 1950s to find that life down under is a far cry from what they were sold. The series launched on BBC One in the UK and on Stan in Australia on May 14.
SPT will be screening all three titles to international clients this week during the LA Screenings alongside psychological thriller The Killing Kind (Paramount+ UK) and medical drama Doc (Fox).
Also being screened will be High Country (Foxtel in Australia) from SPT-backed Curio Pictures and the spin-off to Outlander, Blood of My Blood. SPT will also be previewing Classified, from Diprente and Skybound, a coming-of-age spy drama set in an international elite high school in Africa, which will launch in the US on Freevee this fall.
Mike Wald, executive VP of distribution and networks at SPT, said: “We are thrilled by the tremendous early interest we’re seeing from clients for our titles ahead of LA Screenings and their worldwide premieres.
“At a time when everyone is looking for content that stands apart, clients acknowledge there is nothing else out there like Twisted Metal, and we are seeing a clear void in the market for a sweeping epic drama like The Winter King. We are looking forward to announcing more sales on those series imminently and to provide our clients an early look at some of the other projects in the pipeline.”
