‘Versailles’ Season 2 Courted By BBC, Amazon UK; ‘Midnight Sun’ Sets Sales – Mipcom

Internationally-geared French drama is building a hot streak with significant sales on two co-productions as Mipcom kicks off.

The highly-anticipated second season of hit English-language drama Versailles, handled by Zodiak Rights, will broadcast in 2017 with BBC Two and Amazon now aboard in the UK. The Anglo-French series debuted on Canal Plus this year and also recently on Ovation TV in the U.S. (the first season was also a ratings winner for BBC Two). A real success story, it was renewed for a second season even before the first aired with deals for the first in 135 countries. Other buyers on S2 include C More (Scandinavia), DirecTV (Latin America), Movistar+ (Spain) and Universal in a worldwide pan-entertainment deal.

George Blagden plays King Louis XIV as 17th century rock star in the CANAL+ Création Originale series, that’s co-produced by Capa Drama, Zodiak Fiction and Incendo. Season two looks at the dark underbelly of power as Louis sees the dream of his grand palace crumbling before his eyes. With phase one complete, most of France’s eminent lords and ladies now live under the Sun King’s roof. Drugs, gambling and alcohol are rampant, as nobles begin to poison each other in order to get closer to him. Blinded by passion for his mistress, Louis refuses to listen to the advice of the church and his closest advisors and leaves for war against arch enemy William of Orange, but he must discover the path back to light and redemption to save his vision of Versailles.

In further deals for a French series, Studiocanal has sold its Swedish-French drama, Midnight Sun, to a host of international broadcasters ahead of its October 23 debut on Sweden’s SVT. The series, which is in English, Swedish, French and Arabic, is a Canal+/SVT/Filmpool Nord co-production that stars Leïla Bekhti (The Prophet) and Gustaf Hammarsten (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo). Created by Mårlind & Stein (Bron/Broen), it’s a high concept thriller set in a small mining community in remote northern Sweden where a string of brutal murders conceals a secret conspiracy. Midnight Sun received the Audience Award at SeriesMania in Paris in April. Deals have been closed on the Atlantique Productions and Nice Drama eight-parter in Germany (ZDF), Australia (SBS), Israel (HOT), Norway (NRK), Denmark (DR), Iceland (RUV), Finland (MTV3), Belgium (VRT) and Benelux (Lumière).