EXCLUSIVE: Netflix‘s urban fantasy drama The Grimm Reality will not see the light of day. We’ve learned that the series from Dark producer Wiedemann & Berg and The Gryphon co-producer Dog Haus Films has been quietly shelved.
The Grimm Reality first went into development at Netflix’s German base and then into production in late 2022. We understand filming had completed, but it will not move further forwards at Netflix.
Plot details on the show were not revealed, but it was assumed to be based on the Brothers Grimm folklore tales of the 18th and 19th centuries. The series was billed a “fairy tale urban fantasy thriller,” according to What’s on Netflix, which initially broke the news of the show.
Show creators were Till Kleinert (Der Samurai) and Dog Haus’ Erol Yesilkaya, who is a producer and scriptwriter. Actors including Hyuan Wanner, Patrick Isermeyer, Eidin Jalali and Dennis Schuermann were cast.
The fate of the show has been a topic of discussion among German producers in recent months, with one source saying it appeared to have “ended up in a dark cellar.” Netflix declined to comment, but the streamer has ditched the project. Content at Netflix’s DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) region is led by VP of Content Katja Hofem. Neither Wiedemann & Berg or Dog Haus had responded to requests for comment at press time.
However, Netflix confirmed over the weekend German gangster series Crooks will get a second season following the success of the first, which landed near the top of the streamer’s non-English TV charts in several countries and briefly charted stateside.
The Wiedemann & Berg show is among several the indie has with Netflix this year. Others include the recently launched Sixty Minutes, in which a mixed martial arts fighter races across Berlin to attend his daughter’s birthday party or risk losing custody. Further down the line is Brick, a film that follows a couple whose apartment building is suddenly surrounded by a mysterious brick wall, and Blame the Game, about a games night that goes becomes complicated. Both were unveiled at a Next on Netflix event in Berlin earlier this year.
Wiedemann & Berg is part of Leonine Studios, which was recently acquired by France’s Mediawan. It made Prime Video’s big-budget drama series The Gryphon with Dog Haus, which also became part of a French group this year when it was bought by Newen Studios via new label Spark Studios. The team behind Dog Haus have made shows such as Tatort and Exit.
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