Beta Film, Neuesuper Team on English-Language Drama ‘Children of Mars’

By Robert Mitchell

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Germany’s Beta Film is set to partner with German production company Neuesuper on new English-language sci-fi drama “Children of Mars,” Beta announced Tuesday at Mipcom in Cannes. The eight-hour series, which will be directed by Christian Schwochow, follows 13 astronauts on a one-way journey to Mars. It marks Neuesuper’s first venture into English-language drama.

Set in a near future, “Children of Mars” sees an eccentric tycoon set up a one-way mission for the astronauts, including himself, to colonize the Red Planet. But none of the crew members can escape his or her past.

Writer and producer Simon Amberger described “Children of Mars” as a “human story set within truly unhuman conditions” that will ultimately ask the question of “whether we can take humanity with us when we leave our home planet.”

“The colonization of Mars will become part of our reality sooner than we might think,” said Amberger. “But what does it mean for an individual to leave Earth forever? And what for mankind to become an interplanetary species?”

’s managing director, Moritz von Kruedener, said the project would be “an ambitious project for the international market.” “The journey to Mars is one of the big dreams of mankind,” said von Kruedener. “We strongly believe in the innovative approach of Neuesuper to tell a story of this dimension and emotional depth.”

The project also marks the biggest English-language project to date for Schwochow, who is currently working on the third season of Netflix’s “The Crown,” on which he is directing two episodes. The director’s recent credits include German crime drama “Bad Banks,” for which he won a Bavarian TV Award earlier this year, and the feature biopic “Paula,” about German painter Paula Modersohn-Becker. Schwochow says the new show raises political and philosophical questions of great relevance in society today.

Neuesuper is currently in post-production on eight-part asteroid drama “8 Days” for Sky, which will air in early 2019. The company previously teamed with Beta Film on six-part crime drama “Hamburg Hustling,” which is currently in production.