EXCLUSIVE: The LA Screenings return later this month, so here’s something to get the ball rolling ahead of the glamorous industry event. Sony Pictures Television has unveiled its Screenings slate, with details in full below.
At the same time, the Culver City-based studio has shared exclusive first-look images for two of its buzz titles, The Lady, which is from The Crown producer Left Bank Pictures, and Titanic Sinks Tonight, a real-time retelling of famous British ship’s first – and last – voyage. Check out the pics in full at the bottom of this article.
As ever, Sony will be hosting international buyers from around the world on its lot, this time on Sunday May 18, for preview looks at upcoming series. This year, there’s a new look team at the top, with Mike Wald and Jason Spivak taking center stage following Keith Le Goy’s elevation to Sony Pictures Television Chairman.
“We can’t wait to welcome partners from around the world to the lot, to reconnect, and to present this fantastic slate,” said Wald and Spivak, Co-Presidents, Distribution & Networks at Sony Pictures Television. They’ll be joined by the likes of Le Goy, Sony Pictures Television President Katherine Pope, International Production boss Wayne Garvie and several unannounced special guests.
This year, Sony’s slate will comprise American Hostage, Outlander: Blood of My Blood, Lord of the Flies, Playing Gracie Darling, The Lady and Titanic Sinks Tonight.
As we reported in April, American Hostage (working title) is based on the podcast of the same name and will star Jon Hamm (Mad Men, Your Friends & Neighbors) as Fred Heckman, a beloved real-life Indianapolis radio reporter who is thrust into the middle of a life-or-death crisis when hostage-taker Tony Kiritsis demands to be interviewed on his popular radio news program. Shawn Ryan (The Night Agent, S.W.A.T.) and Eileen Myers (Big Love, Mad Dogs) are the co-creators of the Sony Pictures Television drama, with Hamm among the exec producers.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood has been gaining traction for some time, and in the U.S. is set to launch on August 8 on newly-solo Starz. The Outlander prequel spinoff follows romances between Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) and Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine), and Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) and Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy), centering on the parallel love stories set in two different time periods.
Lord of the Flies, from Sony’s Sex Education producer Eleven, is an adaptation of William Golding’s 1954 novel about a group of young schoolchildren who find themselves stranded on a tropical island with no adults, following a deadly plane crash. They descend into violence as the group splits and hope turns to tragedy. Made for the BBC and Australia’s Stan, it has Adolescence scribe Jack Thorne writing and Hans Zimmer on the music.
From Australia is Paramount+ drama Playing Gracie Darling, which is from Sony-owned Curio Pictures. Starring Morgana O’Reilly (The White Lotus), Harriet Walter (Succession) and Rudi Dharmalingam (The Lazarus Project), it follows the story Joni, whose best friend Gracie Darling disappeared during a séance when they were teenagers. Years later, Joni, now a child psychologist, is forced to return to her home town when a girl disappears under eerily similar circumstances.
The Lady, meanwhile, tells the story of the Duchess of York’s former aide, Jane Andrews, whose rags to riches tale fell apart when she was convicted of murder. Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex) stars as Andrews and Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) plays Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. Deadline revealed news of the series, which is for ITV and BritBox International, in December 2024.
Left Bank is currently gearing up to welcome BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore as CEO, with the producer’s founder and long-serving leader, Andy Harries, moving to an Executive Chairman position. Earlier today, we revealed the three execs looking most likely to replace Moore at the BBC.
Finally, Titanic Sinks Tonight, a BBC documentary series that “aims to provide a complete picture of the most famous 160 minutes in maritime history, telling the astonishing story of the sinking of the Titanic in real time.” Sony’s Stellify Media is making it.
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