Paramount+ Slate Includes Project From ‘The Bridge’ Writer

Paramount+’s latest UK slate is headlined by a dark drama from The Bridge and Marcella creator Hans Rosenfeldt, with new unscripted shows including a reality series about LA hairdressers and true crime doc about a notorious hoax caller.

Leading a six-strong order is Rosenfeldt’s drama The Burning Girls, a six-part series based on the CJ Tudor novel about a village haunted by a dark past.

Deadline first revealed news Rosenfeldt and Buccaneer had landed rights to the project in March last year, at which point Paramount+ was not involved.

Buccaneer Media is producing in association with VIS – Paramount’s international production arm – and Scandi noir supremo Rosenfeldt is leading a writing team that includes fellow The Bridge writing alum Camilla Ahlgren. Cast has yet to be set.

Also on the Paramount+ drama slate is The Ex-Wife, a four-part drama based on the psychological thriller of the same name about a married woman, played by Celine Buckens (Showtrial), whose idyllic life comes under threat.

The Catherine Steadman-written show is from the UK’s Clapperboard Studios, Germany’s Night Train Media and Italy’s Blackbox Multimedia. Night Train is financing the series and has worldwide distribution rights, along with All3Media International.

Paramount UK’s Deputy Chief Content Officer Sebastian Cardwell ordered both as part of Paramount+’s plan to greenlight 50 international scripted series this year.

A trio of unscripted series is led by LA Hairdressers (working title), which is from The Late, Late Show With James Corden co-producer Fulwell 73 in association with Endeavor Content. The eight-part series follows the personal and professional lives of stylists at two Hollywood establishments. Endeavor retains global sales rights.

Fashion House (working title) comes from UK producer Lambent in association with distributor All3Media International and Night Train. The three-part anthology series tells the inside stories of Gucci, Versace and Burberry.

Pervert: Catching The Strip Search Caller (working title) is from Asacha Media-owned Wag Entertainment and tells the shocking true story of the hunt for a hoax caller who targeted staff at fast food restaurants across America, convincing managers to conduct strip searches on young women labelled as ‘suspects’.

Feature doc Girl, Taken comes from Solisiu Films, in association with Screen Ireland, M-Net and Abacus Media Rights. It follows the story of Celeste and Morne Nurse, whose two-day-old baby daughter was stolen from a Cape Town hospital and was 17 years later found living just miles from their family home.

Further commissions from the UK are planned for the spring. Already unveiled are British originals such as Kenneth Branagh series Gentleman in Moscow, a TV remake of Sexy Beast and The Blue.

Paramount+ will launch in the UK this summer, along with debuts in South Korea, France, Germany, Austria and Italy.

The Burning Girls marks a second drama commission for Tony Wood’s production house Buccaneer in less than 24 hours. Yesterday, Deadline broke the news the indie is making So Long, Marianne, a drama for Norwegian state broadcaster NRK about Leonard Cohen’s relationship with Marianne Ihlen.