CANNES, France — Studiocanal, Europe’s biggest film investor and one of the region’s fastest-growing TV drama producers, has sold “Midnight Sun,” its flagship Mipcom series, to Germany’s ZDF, Denmark’s DR and Australia’s SBS.
Produced by Sweden’s SVT and France’s Canal Plus, “Midnight Sun,” one of the most anticipated series from continental Europe, has also clinched deals with TV operators in Norway (NRK), Finland (MTV3), Iceland (RUV), Israel (HOT), and Benelux, where rights are split between Belgium’s VRT and film-TV production-distribution company Lumière. SVT will be the first broadcaster to air “Midnight Sun,” starting Oct. 23. France’s Canal Plus will launch the drama-thriller under its Creation Originale label, later this year.
Studiocanal is in advanced negotiations to close additional sales in the coming months, said Katrina Neylon, Studiocanal EVP, sales and marketing.
The high-end murder mystery series has attracted major attention since its first two episodes bowed at April’s Series Mania in Paris and shared the festival’s Audience Award. It turns on a French police officer, Kahina Zadi (Leila Bekhti, “A Prophet”), who is dispatched from Paris to Kiruna, a small mining community in Arctic Sweden, to lead the investigation of the gruesome murder of a French citizen. She is aided by a local Swedish DA, Anders Harnesk (Gustaf Hammarsten, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”). As other bloody murders of townsfolk quickly mount up, the duo link them to rituals of the local Sami people.
“‘Midnight Sun’ is Nordic Noir at its finest. This truly international series offers sweeping scenery, compelling storytelling and stunning performances,” said Marshall Heald, SBS director of television and online content.
Produced by France’s Atlantique Productions and Sweden’s Nice Drama, “Midnight Sun” is written by “The Bridge” co-scribes Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein from an idea by Henrik Jansson-Schweizer and Patrick Nebout.
