Rogue Heroes Archives - Banijay Group

Banijay Unveils Compelling Slate Ahead of London TV Screenings

22nd February 2024 10:08 am Comments Off

Media and entertainment powerhouse, Banijay, today announces a compelling offering for its dedicated London TV Screenings event – Banijay @ BAFTA.

Hitting the 2024 line-up is the highly-anticipated high-end scripted series Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light; and premium documentary Front Row. Elsewhere, the powerhouse will also be celebrating travelling formats with adventure reality, The Summit; and spin-off, Deal or No Deal Island. Packed with distinct, high-quality programming across all genres, the group’s event will span three sessions on Wednesday 28 February.

On the scripted front, Banijay’s premium offering includes UK dramas Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light for the BBC and Masterpiece PBS, based on the final novel of Hilary Mantel’s multi award-winning trilogy; The Hardacres for Channel 5; Steven Knight’s This Town for the BBC; Welsh drama The One That Got Away (Cleddau) for S4C; and Invisible Boys for Stan. Buyers can also expect a preview of eagerly-awaited second seasons of Marie Antoinette for Canal+ and the BBC, and Rogue Heroes for the BBC and MGM+.

Supercharging its documentary offering, Front Row takes centre stage with Anatomy of a Murder and Four Kings for Prime Video.

To complement the scripted and documentary offering, Banijay will showcase a blend of fresh and highly-entertaining formats including adrenaline-fuelled travelling success The Summit for Nine Network; new spin-off, Deal or No Deal Island created for NBC; adventure reality format and ratings winner Shaolin Heroes for TV2; recent Channel 4 factual reality VOD hit Banged Up; innovative game show Upside Down for RTL4 and The Fortune Hotel for ITV1 and ITVX. A light will also be shone on global superbrands and prized returning formats like Survivor, Big Brother, Star Academy, and reality formats Love Triangle and The Fifty.

Cathy Payne, CEO at Banijay Rights says: “This year’s line-up for Banijay @ BAFTA truly illuminates the breadth of our catalogue and ability to showcase outstanding content across multiple genres. From high-end dramas to acclaimed factual series, we look forward to coming together later this month to celebrate great talent, captivating storytelling and stand-out IP. We really do have something for everyone…”

James Townley, Chief Content Officer, Development and Lucas Green, Chief Content Officer, Operations at Banijay comment: “The London TV Screenings provides an incredible opportunity for Banijay to demonstrate its commitment to delivering exciting emerging IP as well as tried and tested formats and reboots, which continue to compel audiences globally. From Shaolin Heroes to The Summit, and iconic format Deal or No Deal, we are sure to enthral buyers seeking fresh, innovative, and proven formats.”

For its scripted slate, Banijay Rights is highlighting Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, a Playground and Company Pictures co-production directed by Peter Kosminsky, and adapted for television by Peter Straughan, which follows Thomas Cromwell as he navigates the moral complexities of the Tudor court following the execution of Anne Boleyn. Another period drama from Playground in association with Screen Ireland, Red Berry Productions and Newgrange Pictures is new returnable six-part series –The Hardacres- based on CL Skelton’s novel series, The Hardacre Saga.

Meanwhile, from Kudos and Nebulastar, and co-produced with Mercury Studios, in association with Kudos North, Stigma Films, and Nick Angel for the BBC, the much-anticipated This Town tells the story of an extended family and four young people who are drawn into the world of the ska movement and two-tone music.

BlackLight Television (a Banijay UK company), in collaboration with Banijay Rights and Creative Wales for S4C, are delving into Welsh drama with The One That Got Away (Cleddau), which combines a gripping murder mystery with an electrifying love story.

Crossing over to Australia, Invisible Boys from Feisty Dame Productions, Screenwest and Lotterywest, WA Regional Film Fund, Screen Australia, and Banijay Rights for Stan Originals, is a powerful drama created for television by director Nicholas Verso on the challenges faced by a group of gay teens in the remote coastal town of Geraldton.

In factual, the feature-length premium documentary from Scenery and Pretty Matches, Front Row, Executive Produced by award-winning actor and producer Sarah Jessica Parker, and directed by Miriam Guttmann (Sundance Film Festival selection Seeds of Deceit), highlights the resilience of Ukrainian ballet dancers during wartime, where an unlikely friendship forms between a dancer and a front-line soldier.

From Workerbee comes two gripping documentaries, Anatomy of a Murder, a feature length true-crime story centring around the daughter of an Iranian family, who has spent over thirty years and millions of her fortune to try and find her mother’s killer; and Four Kings for Prime Video, exploring the history of British boxing through four men coming from the same London neighbourhood who heralded a golden era and changed the way Britain viewed its black athletes.

Meanwhile, on the reality competition front, The Summit, a 9Network and Endemol Shine Australia original series, produced by Endemol Shine Australia, continues to climb through the ranks with a second season in the works, and a first international adaptation for CBS by Endemol Shine North America with more to come soon.

From Endemol Shine North America, Deal or No Deal Island completely reimagines the iconic game show as an epic adventure. This new spin-off series for NBC is set on the Banker’s private island as he searches for his ultimate opponent in a high stakes competition with over $200,000,000 up for grabs.

From Metronome is Shaolin Heroes for TV2 Denmark, where celebrities undertake the ultimate test by embarking on a transformational journey alongside world-class Shaolin Masters.

Joining Banijay’s factual offering is Banged Up, created by Shine TV for Channel 4. In this fact-ent format social experiment, which veers into the documentary space, six male celebrity inmates are incarcerated in a UK prison environment alongside their reformed criminal cellmates. The series explores the question, ‘does prison work’?

From EndemolShine Nederland, Upside Down sees two celebrity teams undertake all kinds of topsy turvy challenges and Q&A games unlike anything they have seen before, because everything in this innovative format, is upside down.

Highly-anticipated reality series The Fortune Hotel from Tuesday’s Child for ITV1 and ITVX invites viewers into a luxury Caribbean resort filled with glamour, opulence and deception. Contestants are paired up and compete to win a briefcase, one holding the ultimate cash prize and another an Early Checkout Card.

Banijay Brands Deploys SAS Rogue Heroes

15th June 2023 5:09 pm Comments Off

Banijay 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.

Banijay Rights Sends Rogue Heroes to China and the Middle East

5th December 2022 1:10 pm Comments Off

Banijay Rights, the global distribution arm of Banijay, today announces further landmark sales of Rogue Heroes, following the gripping World War Two drama’s renewal by the BBC last night.

In deals negotiated across the Banijay Rights global sales team, the first season of Rogue Heroes has been picked up by Wing Sight Culture & Media Co for streaming in China and STARZPLAY in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, TVNZ in New Zealand, Paramount+ in Germany, and DIRECTV in Latin America have all acquired the series.

These new agreements follow previous sales of the drama to premium network EPIX (soon to be known as MGM+) for the US, HBO Max in Europe, Prime Video in Canada, SBS in Australia and Canal+ in France.

Produced by Kudos (a Banijay UK company) and Nebulastar for the BBC – and entitled SAS Rogue Heroes in the UK market – the series is a dramatized account of how the world’s greatest Special Forces unit, the SAS, was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of World War Two.

Cathy Payne, CEO, Banijay Rights, said: “These latest global deals cap off an exceptional couple of months for Rogue Heroes, with a recent BBC renewal a fantastic way to end the year. We’re excited to extend the reach of Steven Knight’s and Kudos’ epic drama to several new territories, including China and the Middle East for the very first time.”

Martin Haines, Joint MD, Kudos, said: “The series has been a huge global hit, with audiences captivated by the incredible world that Steven Knight has brought to life for our Rogue Heroes. We’re thrilled that even more people will now get the chance to watch.”

Based on Ben Macintyre’s best-selling book, Rogue Heroes centres on David Stirling, an eccentric young officer, who is hospitalized after a training exercise gone wrong. Convinced that traditional commando units don’t work, Stirling creates a radical plan that flies in the face of all accepted rules of modern warfare. He fights for permission to recruit the toughest, boldest, and brightest soldiers for a small undercover unit that will create mayhem behind enemy lines. More rebels than soldiers, Stirling’s team is every bit as complicated, flawed, and reckless as it is brave and heroic.

Rogue Heroes was developed for television and written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, Taboo, A Christmas Carol) and is directed by Tom Shankland (The Serpent, The Missing), with Stephen Smallwood (The Serpent, Patrick Melrose) as producer. Knight also executive produces the series alongside Karen Wilson, Martin Haines and Emma Kingsman-Lloyd for Kudos, and Tommy Bulfin for the BBC.

Connor Swindells (Sex Education, Vigil) plays David Stirling, with Jack O’Connell (Skins, The North Water) as Paddy Mayne, Alfie Allen (Jojo Rabbit, Game of Thrones) as Jock Lewes, Tom Glynn-Carney (Dunkirk, The King) as SAS Founding member Mike Sadler, and Sofia Boutella (Modern Love, Atomic Blonde) as Eve Mansour. Dominic West (The Wire, Appropriate Adult) plays Lieutenant Colonel Wrangel Clarke.

Commissioned by the BBC, SAS Rogue Heroes premiered on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK in October 2022. Filming on season two will take place in 2023. Banijay Rights is also global distributor for This Town, a major upcoming six-part BBC drama from Steven Knight and Kudos which tells the story of a family and four young people who are drawn into the world of ska and two-tone music.

Banijay Rights Sends Rogue Heroes to France

6th April 2022 4:17 pm Comments Off

Banijay Rights today announces a further landmark acquisition of major new six-part limited series Rogue Heroes, as MIPTV 2022 in Cannes draws to a close.

In a deal negotiated by Isabelle Queme, SVP French-Speaking EMEA at Banijay Rights, Rogue Heroes has been picked up by CANAL+ in France and for all CANAL+ territories around the world to broadcast in late 2022.

The agreement follows premium network EPIX’s acquisition of the drama for the US in November last year – the first international deal for the series – and further sales to HBO Max in Europe, Prime Video in Canada and SBS in Australia in early 2022.

Produced by Kudos and Nebulastar for the BBC – and entitled SAS Rogue Heroes in the UK market – the series is a dramatized account of how the world’s greatest Special Forces unit, the SAS, was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of World War Two.

Isabelle Queme, SVP French-Speaking EMEA, Banijay Rights, said: “Steven Knight and Kudos’ magnificent Rogue Heroes continues to build huge momentum worldwide and we are beyond thrilled to secure this latest deal with CANAL+; taking this epic – and important – Second World War story to a whole new audience across France and all CANAL+ territories around the world.”

Jean-Marc Juramie, Senior EVP, Pay TV Content, CANAL+ Group, added: “We are thrilled to add this incredible event series from acclaimed writer Steven Knight to our line-up here at CANAL+. Our subscribers from all over the world will discover this important Second World War story about extraordinary men, whose stories have been further elevated by this outstanding cast.”

Martin Haines, Joint MD, Kudos, said: Rogue Heroes is a truly ground-breaking series created by the fantastic Steven Knight, and we are delighted that audiences around the globe will have the opportunity to watch what will be unmissable TV.”

Based on Ben Macintyre’s best-selling book, Rogue Heroes centres on David Stirling, an eccentric young officer, who is hospitalized after a training exercise gone wrong.

Convinced that traditional commando units don’t work, Stirling creates a radical plan that flies in the face of all accepted rules of modern warfare. He fights for permission to recruit the toughest, boldest, and brightest soldiers for a small undercover unit that will create mayhem behind enemy lines. More rebels than soldiers, Stirling’s team is every bit as complicated, flawed, and reckless as it is brave and heroic.

Rogue Heroes is developed for television and written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, Taboo, A Christmas Carol) and will be directed by Tom Shankland (The Serpent, The Missing), with Stephen Smallwood (The Serpent, Patrick Melrose) as producer. The series is executive produced by Karen Wilson, Martin Haines and Emma Kingsman-Lloyd for Kudos, and Tommy Bulfin for the BBC.

Connor Swindells (Sex Education, Vigil) will play David Stirling, with Jack O’Connell (Skins, The North Water) as Paddy Mayne, Alfie Allen (Jojo Rabbit, Game of Thrones) as Jock Lewes, Tom Glynn-Carney (Dunkirk, The King) as SAS Founding member Mike Sadler, and Sofia Boutella (Modern Love, Atomic Blonde) as Eve. Dominic West (The Wire, Appropriate Adult) will play Lieutenant Colonel Wrangel Clarke.

Commissioned by the BBC, SAS: Rogue Heroes will premiere on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK.

Banijay Unveils Slate of Formats and Scripted Titles for Spring 2022

30th March 2022 11:55 am Comments Off

Banijay, the world’s largest independent home to the best creative talent and IP, today announces an impressive range of titles for its spring slate ahead of MIPTV.

Starstruck, Limitless Win, The Courtship, Language of Love, Your Body Uncovered and Shaolin Heroes have been revealed as Banijay’s format highlights, alongside Banijay Rights’ premium scripted titles including Rogue Heroes, Then You Run and Signora Volpe.

James Townley, Global Head of Content Development at Banijay says: “Banijay has a wonderfully diverse offering of formats and developing ambitious bold new shows from Starstruck to Shaolin Heroes is at the heart of our culture. We can capitalise on our expertise in the entertainment, reality, and adventure spaces, having produced hit formats such as Survivor, Wipeout and Big Brother, to create all-new, high-energy productions which appeal to global audiences.”

Cathy Payne, CEO at Banijay Rights says: “With strong writing and globally relevant themes, we’re proud these premium scripted titles are leading our burgeoning catalogue. With continuingly strong demand from platforms and broadcasters for new shows, we expect the highlighted formats to have broad appeal both as finished tape sales and as travelling IP with third-party producers.”

Entertainment is back in a big way…Starstruck, created by Remarkable Entertainment for ITV is the epitome of this. Teaming up as trios, the public transform into some of the world’s biggest music icons. And Limitless Win, created by Hello Dolly and co-produced with Mitre Studios, which Banijay have the international format rights to, was ITV’s biggest brand-new entertainment series launch since January 2020. Already commissioned for a second series in the UK, it is a prime-time quiz show with a unique USP – the world’s first-ever limitless jackpot!

The Courtship is a bold new relationship show from Endemol Shine North America, in association with Shine TV. A modern woman tired of dating in the 21^st century is transported to the Regency-era. Will the ultimate romantic experience see the leading lady swept off her feet? Joining Banijay’s dating offering, is Language of Love from Banijay Iberia’s Zeppelin and UK indie 2LE. The series explores whether love can blossom even with a language barrier to overcome as six British singletons and six Spaniards are brought together.

Combining reality with adventure is Metronome’s epic new show, Shaolin Heroes. Celebrities will embark on a life-changing journey to master the ancient martial art of the Shaolin Warrior Monks. Elsewhere, Your Body Uncovered is a ground-breaking new concept that uses cutting-edge technology to better understand medical conditions. The format, created by Remarkable Factual, allows the viewers to witness this immersive journey every step of the way.

On the scripted front, Banijay is highlighting Rogue Heroes. This new six-part series, written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) and produced by Kudos and Nebulastar, is a dramatized account of how the world’s greatest Special Forces unit, the SAS, was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of World War Two.

From Kudos, in association with MadeFor and Sky Studios, Then You Run is a bold new Sky Original drama based on Zoran Drvenkar’s novel, ‘You’. The series follows a close-knit group of friends whose dreams of the perfect holiday spiral into a dark and perilous adventure.

In Signora Volpe, which will be distributed internationally by Banijay Rights, Emilia Fox (Silent Witness) will star as a British spy who finds herself involved in a murder investigation in Italy. Motivated by her passion for justice with an instinct for adventure, this drama will unearth the dark secrets of Umbria. Written by Rachel Cuperman and Sally Griffiths (Midsomer Murders) it will be produced by ITV Studios-backed production company Route 24.

Joining Banijay’s impressive catalogue of over 120,000 hours, the new titles will sit alongside super brands such as MasterChef, Big Brother, Survivor, LEGO^® Masters and scripted hits, Screw, Peaky Blinders and Penoza amongst others.

Banijay Rights Takes Rogue Heroes Worldwide

1st March 2022 10:29 am Comments Off

Banijay Rights today announces landmark acquisitions of major new six-part limited series Rogue Heroes, as this week’s London TV Screenings showcase event gets under way.

In deals negotiated across the Banijay Rights global sales team, Rogue Heroes has been picked up by HBO Max in Europe, Prime Video in Canada and SBS in Australia.

The agreements follow premium network EPIX’s acquisition of the drama for the US in November last year – the first international deal for the series.

Cathy Payne, CEO, Banijay Rights, said: “As this week’s London TV Screenings event gets under way, it’s an absolute delight to be able to announce these huge global deals for Rogue Heroes. From the get-go, Steven Knight and Kudos’ tour de force World War Two drama has created ripples of excitement from international buyers, and we are excited to expand this series’ global footprint even further.”

Martin Haines, Joint MD, Kudos, added: “Steven has created a truly brilliant series, and we are thrilled that audiences around the globe will have the opportunity to watch what will be unmissable TV.”