Altice Acquires Sky’s ‘Britannia’ for France, Boards as Co-Producer
By Robert Mitchell
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – French broadcaster Altice has taken rights to Sky original drama “Britannia” across France, Israel and Portugal, it was announced Tuesday by Sky Vision, the production and distribution arm of Sky. The broadcaster and platform agreed to an exclusive life-of-series distribution deal for the nine-part show across all three markets and will become a co-production partner on all future seasons commissioned.
The first season of “,” co-produced with Amazon, debuted on Sky Atlantic in the U.K. and in the U.S. in January. A second season was confirmed in March and is currently in production. The second season will air in 2019. will debut season one this fall.
“We believe this series is a very strong brand for Altice Studios to build their content offering across France, Israel and Portugal,” said Leona Connell, director of sales for . “We’re delighted to continue to work with Altice to ensure that viewers across the world enjoy our dramas.” Last year saw Altice partner with Sky Vision on another Sky original drama, “Riviera,” starring Julia Stiles.
Set in A.D. 43, “Britannia” follows the Roman army in Britain as it seeks to crush both local tribes led by warrior women and druids seeking to channel forces from the underworld. It stars David Morrissey, Kelly Reilly and Mackenzie Crook.
The drama is the first TV work by celebrated playwright and “Spectre” scribe Jez Butterworth. It was created by Butterworth with his brother Tom and Vertigo Films’ James Richardson. Jez and Tom will write the second season alongside another brother, John-Henry Butterworth.
For Vertigo Films, which produced the series with Neal Street Productions, it marks the company’s entry into TV. As an independent film producer, Vertigo made such features as “Bronson,” “The Football Factory,” and “Monsters.”
Rupert Ryle-Hodges is producing the second season of the show. Jez and Tom Butterworth serve as executive producers alongside Richardson for Vertigo, and Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris and Nicolas Brown for Neal Street.
Sky Vision has now sold the show to more than 209 countries. HBO acquired the show for several of its European services in January, including in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, and Spain, while Starz took it for the Middle East and Sinema TV in Turkey. The iFlix streaming service bought rights for Africa, and pay-TV platform Foxtel has it for Australia and Sky Network Television for New Zealand. The show was additionally carried by Sky in Germany and Italy. Sony has global home entertainment rights.
