MipTV/Canneseries: ZDF Studios Invests in Factual Entertainment, Oble Nabs ‘The Plague,’ Studiocanal’s ‘The Vow’ Goes to Italy

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Xilam Animation will serve as animation studio on Zack Snyder’s upcoming Netflix series “Twilight of the Gods.” The series was originally announced in 2019. Little is known about the plot other than it will ancient Norse mythology. The voice cast includes: Sylvia Hoeks, Stuart Martin, Pilou Asbaek, John Noble, Paterson Joseph, Rahul Kohli, Jamie Clayton, Kristopher Hivju, Peter Stormare, Jamie Chung, Lauren Cohan, and Corey Stroll. The series does not yet have a premiere date. Xilam’s animation services on the animated series will include lay-out, colour BG, animation and compositing. The studio’s past credits include the Oscar-nominated feature “I Lost My Body” as well as shows like “Oggy and the Cockroaches,” “Zig & Sharko,” and “Chip ‘n’ Dale: Park Life.”

A night to remember! Despite the Met Gala’s no phone policy, several celebs were sneak enough to give fans a glimpse inside the biggest fashion event of the year.

He’s OK! Bachelorette alum Emily Maynard Johnson and husband Tyler Johnson’s son Jones is on the mend after undergoing a procedure.  

“I didn’t expect to find a friend like Bruno in my life. Nor that friendship was a place where you put down roots, that remains waiting for you.” It’s with these words, delivered in wistful voiceover, that Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch open “The Eight Mountains,” their sublime and gently aching adaptation of the Italian bestseller by Paolo Cognetti.

Ed Sheeran is going on tour this summer!

EXCLUSIVE: Robert Morgan’s Talaria Media has launched development on Arigato Tokyo, a new drama set in the world of women’s professional wrestling, after acquiring a feature pitch by Daytime Emmy winner Mark Blutman (Ghostwriter, Boy Meets World). Jamie Anderson is on board to direct the pic, with Morgan to exec produce.

Kim Kardashian is going through it in the new trailer for season 3 of. The 42-year-old mother of four and businesswoman is finally addressing her August 2022 split from Pete Davidson and her struggles with her ex-husband, Kanye West.In the new trailer, Kim sits down for her confessional interview, claiming, «I don't even know where we left off.»«You were still in a relationship,» a producer reminds her.«I was? Damn,» Kim says, smiling.Kim then narrates, «Things change really quickly.»Kim is then seen talking with her sister, Khloe Kardashian, who asks if she's doing OK.«I'm not OK.

Netflix’s Italian drama The Leopard, based on Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s classic novel, has gone into production and unveiled its cast.

Ethan Shanfeld Bob Odenkirk is trading Cinnabon for Italian beef, as the “Better Call Saul” star has joined Season 2 of FX’s delicious hit dramedy series “The Bear,” Variety has learned exclusively from sources. Character details for Odenkirk are being kept under wraps, but the actor is said to be boarding the show in a guest role. FX and reps for Odenkirk declined to comment. “The Bear,” which will premiere its second season in June, stars Jeremy Allen White as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, an elite chef who returns home to run his family’s Chicago sandwich shop after his older brother dies by suicide. Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas, Edwin Lee Gibson, Corey Hendrix, Matty Matheson, Richard Esteras and Jose M. Cervantes comprise “The Bear’s” chaotic kitchen staff, while Abby Elliott stars as Carmy’s sister, Natalie.

An oft-heard lament on the part of international distribution is that Italy is impossible to program in the summer. In 2019, there was an effort on the part of the studios and the local industry to steer the season in a different direction resulting in record results, but the pandemic halted momentum. 

Ed Meza @edmezavar Warner Bros. Intl. Television Prod. (WBITVP) has appointed former Fremantle exec Harry Gamsu as new VP, creative, for format, development and sales. He will report to Andrew Zein, SVP creative, for format development and sales and oversee relations between WBITVP’s international division and the WB’s U.S. TV production units Warner Horizon, Telepictures and Shed. Gamsu will also evaluate formats in WB’s catalogue for international exploitation and format sales to Canada. He succeeds Adam Steinman, who ankled WBITVP earlier this year. In his previous role as VP of non-scripted content acquisitions at Fremantle, Gamsu managed the U.S. content acquisition team and working on factual and entertainment series.

Ed Meza @edmezavar Studiocanal has sold two new thrillers from Benelux to international buyers at MipTV in Cannes. The eight-part crime thriller “1985,” produced by Eyeworks for Belgian public broadcasters VRT and RTBF, follows three friends as they move to Brussels and get caught up in the horrifying events of Belgium’s most notorious unsolved crime spree that shocked a generation and left a scar on the entire country. The series went to SBS Australia; Filmin for Portugal and Spain; Canal+ for France, Czech Republic and Slovakia; TG4 in Ireland; and Free TV in Israel.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor ZDF Studios, the commercial arm of German broadcaster ZDF, is to create the position of director international content partnerships with effect from May 1. The position will be taken by Jeffrey Haverkamp. The core tasks of this position, which has an interface between ZDF Studios and ZDF, will include initiatives to strengthen ZDF’s international programming partnerships, the exploration and initiation of framework and partnership agreements with new international programming partners of ZDF, and the evaluation of current programming offers with regard to the broadcaster’s programming needs. The position is located in the acquisitions and co-productions department, which provides services for ZDF. For the ZDF Studios Group, the creation of the new role is also intended to generate additional impetus for the distribution business from the development and expansion of international content partnerships.

Christine & The Queens has shared a new collaboration with 070 Shake – listen to ‘True Love’ below.The French singer-songwriter’s new album ‘PARANOÏA, ANGELS, TRUE LOVE’ is due for release June 9 and will follow-up last year’s ‘Redcar les adorables étoiles’.

Ed Meza @edmezavar CJ ENM Sells Remake Rights to hit Korean Drama ‘Train’ to Firebrand Studios The U.K.’s Firebird Studios has acquired remake rights for hit Korean drama “Train” from entertainment giant CJ ENM. “Train” follows a detective investigating his love’s death who discovers a parallel universe, where his late partner is very much alive. Moving back and forth between the two worlds, he tracks down the truth behind her death in one, while protecting her in the other. “With two unforgettable central characters, ‘Train’ is a love story, a detective show, a journey across the multiverse,” said Firebird Pictures CEO Elizabeth Kilgariff. It’s “a story that defies expectations at every turn and one that we can’t wait to re-tell in a British setting.”

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent British director Joe Wright, who helmed Winston Churchill drama “Darkest Hour” – which earned Gary Oldman an Oscar for his portrayal as the British prime minister – has now changed historical sides.  Wright is at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios shooting high-end TV drama “M. Son of the Century” which chronicles Benito Mussolini’s rise to power. A timely tale because, as he puts it: “Populist leaders are sprouting up all over the world.”  Aesthetically, the show will be “quite outlandish” with deeply saturated colors, punctuated by a “kind of techno score,” the director said during a recent set visit. Though “It’s not told in a vérité style,” Wright pointed out that “All the facts of what happened, they’re all there.” 

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor ZDF Studios has secured the global distribution rights (excluding India) for “Colonies in Conflict,” a feature-length documentary that examines the perilous existence of wild bees in a fast-changing Indian landscape. Last year, the film was a finalist at the Jackson Wild Media Awards and won the best independent production award at Rotterdam’s Wildlife Film Festival. “Colonies in Conflict,” which is directed and written by Rajani Mani (“Miles to Go,” “In God’s Own Country,” “Food? Health? Hope?”), focuses on the threat to honeybees. These prolific pollinators are a keystone species that props up the ecological arc on which the survival of several species, including humans, depend. Human action is causing pollinator declines all over the world spelling disaster to nutritional security and the biodiversity of our ecosystems.

Chris Evans said this week that he has avoided hosting "Saturday Night Live" "like the plague" for the last several years. "I've avoided hosting ‘SNL’ like the plague for years now just because I'm so scared," the "Captain America" star said to "Entertainment Tonight Canada." "It's terrifying to me.To me, it would just be one of those things that every single night I would wake up in a cold sweat." The 41-year-old said he doesn’t think he has the comedy chops to be a successful host of the sketch show.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Ana de Armas is gearing up to host “Saturday Night Live” for the first time, but why hasn’t her “Ghosted” co-star Chris Evans ever led the charge at Studio 8H? In a new interview with ET Canada, Evans admitted that he’s avoided hosting “Saturday Night Live” because the thought makes him so terrified. Perhaps it has something to do with his close friends telling him he’s not very funny over the years. “Well, now a cameo I can handle. I’ve avoided hosting ‘SNL’ like the plague for years now just because I’m so scared. It’s terrifying to me,” Evans said. “To me, it would just be one of those things that every single night I would wake up in a cold sweat. A cameo sounds great, that’s perfect. In and out… get your toes wet. But hosting, I tip my hat to her. [Ana is] going to be amazing. But it would provide a lot of sleepless nights for me.”

guest-hosting “SNL” on April 15.The pair spoke to ET Canada recently and the Boston native recently admitted that he’s too nervous to appear on an episode of the sketch comedy show.“Well, now a cameo I can handle,” Evans said, when asked if he would ever appear on the NBC series. “I’ve avoided hosting ‘SNL’ like the plague for years now just because I’m so scared.