Banijay Brands Deploys SAS Rogue Heroes
Comments Off on Banijay Brands Deploys SAS Rogue HeroesBanijay Brands, the commercial arm of content powerhouse Banijay, today announces it will represent a range of commercial rights for the Kudos (a Banijay UK company) series, SAS Rogue Heroes.
Created by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, Taboo, A Christmas Carol), SAS Rogue Heroes is produced by Kudos for the BBC with MGM+. Based on Ben Macintyre’s best-selling book of the same name, the show centres on David Stirling, an eccentric young officer, who is hospitalised after a training exercise gone wrong. The first series became a huge hit with viewers and critics alike, attracting an audience of 9.4 million viewers on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK. Season two, which again will be a dramatised account of the origins of the SAS, has begun filming.
Owain Walbyoff, Chief Commercial Officer, Banijay says: “With breath-taking cinematography and beautifully crafted characters, SAS Rogue Heroes is a visually powerful show that lends itself perfectly to a broad range of products and activations. Banijay Brands has extensive expertise in driving the commercial performance of our shows and we are delighted to add Steven and Kudos’ brilliant creation to our portfolio.”
Martin Haines joint Managing Director, Kudos added: “Viewers worldwide have connected deeply with Steven’s storytelling and this has opened the door for the exploration of products and experiences for audiences to enjoy beyond the screen. With our second series on the horizon there is so much more to come for SAS Rogue Heroes fans and I look forward to seeing how the brand evolves further in this way.”
Key cast for the series includes Jack O’Connell as Paddy Mayne, Connor Swindells as David Stirling, Sofia Boutella as Eve Mansour, and Dominic West as Dudley Clarke. Gwilym Lee (The Great, Bohemian Rhapsody) joins for series two to play Bill Stirling, David Stirling’s brother and founder of the 2SAS regiment, while Con O’Neill (Happy Valley, Our Flag Means Death) will play General Montgomery.
SAS Rogue Heroes is distributed internationally by Banijay Rights. The series was developed for television and written and executive produced by Steven Knight. Series two (6×60’) will be directed by Stephen Woolfenden (Outlander, Willow) with Stephen Smallwood (The Serpent, Patrick Melrose) as producer. The series will be executive produced by Karen Wilson, Emma Kingsman-Lloyd and Martin Haines for Kudos, and Nick Lambon for the BBC.