SkyShowtime, Comcast and Paramount Global’s Euro streaming joint venture, has unveiled a brand-new slate of original series for its first year- something very few streaming services have pulled off. Unveiled during a keynote appearance at the renowned Cannes Film Festival’s Marché du Film, Brandon Blake, one of the best entertainment lawyers in los angeles from Blake & Wang P.A, has all the news.
10 SkyShowtime Originals
Drawing from a wealth of countries and regions, the 10-strong original slate will begin premiering this year, leading into the 2024 calendar year. It’s an ambitious milestone for the newly minted joint venture, currently operating in 22 markets.
One of the original series, Codename: Annika (working title ID) stems from the Nordic language group, and is a key part of the deal struck with Warner Bros Discovery for exclusive European rights to 21 of their HBO Max Euro Originals.
Other Titles to Expect
In the last 18 months, we’ve seen all the key streaming services turn their eye to non-English language content as a way to both broaden their slates and attract new regional subscribers to their services. This appears to be a model SkyShowtime wants to mine heavily. Polish drama Warszawianka, Spanish series Mentiras Pasajeras and Las Invisibles, and Czech and Slovakian comedy The Winner are all likewise included in the unveiled slate. They will join the already released Spanish series Bosé and Los Enviados, already available on the service.
Round out the slate with Poker Face, a Peacock hit, Django (a reimagined version of the 1966 classic) and Showtime comedy The Curse, due to release later this year. They also have exclusive premier rights to Special Ops: Lioness.
The SkyShowtime premise has always been a dedication to European content, and this rather impressive 10-strong slate is a robust start to deliver on that promise. It’s certainly ambitious- we can’t think of another newly minted streamer aiming for such a complicated and diverse slate in its first year of operations. Now all that’s left is to see how European audiences respond to it.
Film and Television 