Less than 12 months after launch, SkyShowtime will premiere 10 new original series—including shows in each of its regions of Central & Eastern Europe, Iberia and the Nordics
SkyShowtime CEO Monty Sarhan revealed new series at prestigious Marché du Film (Festival de Cannes) Keynote
SkyShowtime – Europe’s next great streaming service –announced today a line-up of original and exclusive series that will be premiering on the service later this year and into 2024. CEO Monty Sarhan unveiled the upcoming series during a keynote address in Cannes at the Marché du Film.
Launched last September in the Nordics and live across all of its markets for just 80 days, SkyShowtime will premiere a total of 10 original series in 2023—a staggering and nearly unheard of accomplishment for a service that is less than one year old. In addition, SkyShowtime is the exclusive home for the best series from Paramount Global, NBCUniversal’s Peacock service, and Sky Studios.
In the Nordics, SkyShowtime will premiere Codename: Annika, its first original in the region. The Finnish-Swedish production, previously titled ID, is a crime-drama series that revolves around Finnish art-fraud investigator Emma, who goes undercover to infiltrate an auction house in Stockholm in order to investigate the firm’s connection to a notorious money launderer known as “Blanko.” The series will be available to stream later this year.
Spanish SkyShowtime Original Las Invisibles (The Invisible Ladies) will premiere in Spain on 5 June. Starring Lolita Flores, Maria Pujalte, Yoshira Escárrega, Paula del Río, Paula Mirá, Yaël Belicha and Elena Irureta, the series centres around a group of strong female characters who, as maids working at a luxury hotel in the Mediterranean, work to restructure their own lives that are juxtaposed against those of the wealthy visitors at the resort.
Further SkyShowtime Originals previously announced include Polish Original drama Warszawianka available to audiences on 19 June, as well as Czech and Slovakian comedy The Winner and Spanish Original Mentiras Pasajeras (Fleeting Lies), both coming later this year. Spanish Originals including Bosé and Los Enviados S1 (The Envoys) are already available for audiences, with Season 2 of Por H o por B available from 26 May and Season 2 of Los Enviados (The Envoys) coming later this year.
Additional new series coming to SkyShowtime later this year include critically acclaimed “mystery-of-the-week” series Poker Face starring Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Orange Is The New Black) as Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. It will debut as a SkyShowtime Original Series. In addition, SkyShowtime will premiere Django – the westerns-style series and re-imagining of the famous 1966 film in select Central and Eastern European territories, the Nordics, Portugal and Spain.
Later this year, SkyShowtime will launch The Curse, a SkyShowtime Original starring Emma Stone, Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie that explores how an alleged curse disturbs the relationship of a newly married couple. SkyShowtime will also exclusively premiere the latest Taylor Sheridan series Special Ops: Lioness, starring series lead and executive producer Zoe Saldaña, Academy Award winner and executive producer Nicole Kidman, Laysla De Oliveira, and Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman. The original series follows the Lioness Engagement Team as they help bring down a terrorist organisation from within.
The highly anticipated part two of Yellowstone Season 5 will be streaming exclusively across SkyShowtime markets later this year. Additionally, the second seasons of 1923, starring Academy Award winner Helen Mirren and Academy Award nominee Harrison Ford, and Sylvester Stallone led comedy series Tulsa King – all from Academy Award nominee Taylor Sheridan—will be coming exclusively to SkyShowtime. The must-see series Halo - based on the blockbuster game of the same—returns for Season 2.
Hit movies Babylon, Bros, M3GAN, and She Said will also premiere exclusively on SkyShowtime in most markets, joining blockbuster films Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World Dominion, and Minions: The Rise of Gru—all available to stream at no additional cost.
SkyShowtime CEO Monty Sarhan said: “SkyShowtime is dedicated to Europe and we are proud to be launching original programming across our markets. Premiering such a robust and impressive slate of 10 original series in our first year is virtually unheard of for a new streaming service. As home to some of the most compelling exclusive programming—representing the best of Hollywood and the region—and an exceptional line-up of movies, SkyShowtime is dedicated to bringing customers across Europe a premium content offering at a great price.”
Featuring thousands of hours of quality entertainment for the whole family, SkyShowtime subscribers have access to new and exclusive series, originals, award-winning movies, kids and family content and a selection of iconic library titles and box sets from Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks Animation, Paramount+, SHOWTIME®, Sky Studios and Peacock - all streaming in one place. SkyShowtime is available in Albania, Andorra, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
SkyShowtime is available direct-to-consumer via the SkyShowtime app across Apple iOS, tvOS, Android devices, Android TV, Google Chromecast, LG TV, Samsung, and through the website: www.skyshowtime.com/its-time-for/codename-annika.
Codename: Annika is a Finnish-Swedish crime series. The story revolves around Finnish art fraud investigator, Emma, who goes undercover to infiltrate an auction house in Stockholm to investigate the firm’s connection to a notorious money launderer known as Blanko. To go undetected, Emma chooses the cover identity Annika, a hot-headed socialite who lives for wild parties, drugs and alcohol and is the opposite of the cool, calm, and collected Emma. By adopting this wild persona, doors begin to open to the hidden world of high-class art fraud. However, becoming Annika means Emma must confront memories from her past that she has tried to forget.
Starring Lolita Flores, Maria Pujalte, Yoshira Escárrega, Paula del Río, Paula Mirá, Yaël Belicha and Elena Irureta, the series centres around a group of maids who clean the rooms of a luxury hotel in the Mediterranean, while attempting to restructure their own lives. The story portrays the reality of women who struggle to earn a living yet always have a moment to smile. This poignant series offers a large dose of optimism, in a world where life's little pleasures come together and the ability to overcome, dignity, love, and musical reverie. Las Invisibles has been created by Héctor Lozano (Merlí: Sapere Aude), and directed by Menna Fité (Merlí: Sapere Aude), and Marta Díaz (Mi querida cofradía).
Warszawianka is a fictional Polish drama series which follows the tragicomic adventures of a 40-year-old urban legend (Borys Szyc) in Warsaw. He is a deeply complex character, an irresponsible party animal, a serial lothario and everyone’s friend at the same time. Behind the veneer he is tormented and self-loathing, trapped by his parents (Krystyna Janda and Jerzy Skolimowski) and shackled by the culture and the times that shaped him. With a head full of dreams, his talent for writing has stolen the hearts of Generation X. But he hasn’t grown up. He’s weak. Having had and then lost everything, he is trying to make sense of the modern world surrounded by the city’s most interesting characters.
The Winner is a Czech and Slovakian family comedy that tells the story of Viktor Hudák (Ady Hajdu), a fictional Prime Minister of a small European country ending his career in politics and returning to everyday life. However, when his successor radically overturns all the policies that he spent a lifetime building he quickly realises there is very little power in being an ex-Prime Minister. In a bid to demonstrate that he is still relevant he attempts to step up and take the lead at home where he lives with his wife and three daughters. But having spent so long away from them, and not having the first idea how the real-world works, he finds a family which has long become used to living without him and a group of women far superior to any political opponents he has faced in his career as prime minister. Ivana Chýlková and Milan Ondrík also star.
Starring Hugo Silva and Elena Anaya, the fictional series with eight, 30-minute episodes, is described as an elegant comedy. Mentiras Pasajeras portrays the life of main character Lucía. One month before her wedding, and just before being appointed as the director of the company where she works, she is betrayed by Santi, her promotion rival. Because of this, Lucía is accused of industrial espionage, and she gets fired without consideration, but decides to keep it a secret from her family. The acting cast is completed by Pilar Castro, Quim Gutiérrez, Susi Sánchez, María Botto, María León, Pedro Casablanc and Julián López.
Bosé is a biopic that follows the intense and dramatic life of legendary singer-songwriter Miguel Bosé. Surrounded by a halo of mystery, Miguel Bosé has always been very private. For the first time, the series breaks down the walls revealing the singer-songwriter’s strengths and weaknesses, giving the audiences an intimate look into his life. Each episode focuses on a different Miguel Bosé song and journeys through flashbacks to pivotal moments in the artist's lifespan. The present-day timeline in the series takes place during the promotion of his multi-platinum album “Papito,” a special moment for Miguel personally when he decides to make a long-delayed dream come true: to be a father. Bosé stars José Pastor and Iván Sánchez, who portray Miguel Bosé in different moments of his life.
Por H o por B, a series produced in Spain, will return for a second season. After the journey in the first season, which took us from Parla to the Madrid neighborhood of Malasaña, Hache (Marta Martín) and Belén (Saida Benzal) return again for the next instalment of their adventures. The two friends are still living in Malasaña, but things have changed. The area remains a crazy and frivolous ‘theme park’ but the girls have found their place there, all without sacrificing their authenticity. They’ve accepted the place, and it seems that in return Malasaña has accepted them. Hache has a new job, working in nail salon and Belén tries to survive with different jobs while keeping her dream of becoming an actress alive. Itziar Castro, Diego Castillo, Javier Bódalo, Brays Efe will also reprise their roles.
Los Enviados tells the mission of two priests from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Vatican team in charge of verifying and studying miracles of potential saints, who are sent to Mexico to verify alleged miraculous healings of another clergyman known for performing them in a mental institution. As soon as they arrive in Mexico City, they receive the news that the priest they are looking for has disappeared without a trace. Their lives and their faith are taken to the limit when they discover a psychiatric colony, located on the suburbs of the town that seems to hide more than one secret: a mystery buried for decades that underlies each inhabitant of the town. The original series features an all-star cast, including Luis Gerardo Méndez (Narcos: Mexico, Charlie’s Angels), Miguel Ángel Silvestre (Narcos, Sense8), Irene Azuela (Sense8), and Miguel Rodarte (Narcos: Mexico).
Poker Face is a 10-episode mystery-of-the-week series following Natasha Lyonne’s Charlie, who has an extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying. She hits the road with her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve. The series is created, written, directed and executive produced by multiple Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Rian Johnson, writer/director/producer of the hit Knives Out movies. Lyonne executive produces, writes and directs for the series. The series is produced by T-Street, MRC and Animal Pictures.
Loosely based on the cult movie by Sergio Corbucci, Django tells the story of a man seeking revenge who ends up fighting for something greater. Texas, Late 1800: Django arrives in a barren town at the bottom of a crater: New Babylon. Django is looking for the men who murdered his family, but he finds out that his daughter Sarah survived and is there. Sarah is twenty now, she's about to marry John Ellis, the founder of New Babylon, and more importantly, she doesn't want Django to be there. Django does not surrender, and he’ll do whatever it takes for a second chance with his daughter. However, Django, Sarah, and John are wrapped in a web of dark secrets destined to resurface.
The Curse is a genre-bending SHOWTIME® series that explores how an alleged curse disturbs the relationship of a newly married couple as they try to conceive a child while co-starring on their problematic new HGTV show. Produced by A24, The Curse is co-created and executive produced by Benny Safdie (Good Time, Uncut Gems and Daddy Longlegs) and Nathan Fielder (Nathan for You and The Rehearsal), who also serves as a director. The show stars Fielder, Safdie and Oscar® winner Emma Stone (La La Land), who will executive produce alongside Dave McCary and Ali Herting through their Fruit Tree banner. Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein also serve as executive producers. The series’ guest stars include Oscar nominee Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips), Emmy® nominee Corbin Bernsen (L.A. Law, City on a Hill), and Constance Shulman (Orange Is the New Black).
From Academy Award nominee Taylor Sheridan, Special Ops: Lioness is based on a real-life program and follows Cruz Manuelos (Laysla De Oliveira), a rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine recruited to join the Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within. Zoe Saldaña will play Joe, the station chief of the Lioness program tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives.
Oscar and Emmy winner Kevin Costner stars as John Dutton, patriarch of a Montana ranching family, and owner of the largest ranch in the U.S. It's the story of Dutton's fight to defend his land and his family from an Indian reservation and land developers. Medical issues and family secrets put strain on the Dutton’s, and political aspirations and outside partnerships threaten their future.
From Academy Award nominee Taylor Sheridan, 1923 is the next instalment of the Yellowstone origin story, following the record-breaking performance of 1883. Starring Academy Award nominee Harrison Ford and Academy Award winner Helen Mirren, 1923 will introduce a new generation of the Dutton family and explore the early twentieth century when pandemics, historic drought, the end of Prohibition and the Great Depression all plague the mountain west, and the Duttons who call it home.
From Academy Award nominee Taylor Sheridan, Tulsa King stars Academy Award nominee Sylvester Stallone as New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi, just after he is released from prison after 25 years and unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Okla. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a crew from a group of unlikely characters, to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.
Based on the iconic Xbox®’s franchise, Halo's epic universe and cast of characters comes to life in this new original drama series. Halo reinvented how people think about video games and has grown into a global entertainment phenomenon, having sold more than 81 million copies worldwide. In the new television series adaptation, Halo will take place in the universe that first came to be in 2001, dramatizing an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. Halo will weave deeply drawn personal stories with action, adventure and a richly imagined vision of the future.
From Damien Chazelle, Babylon is an original epic set in 1920s Los Angeles led by Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva, with an ensemble cast including Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li and Jean Smart. A tale of outsized ambition and outrageous excess, it traces the rise and fall of multiple characters during an era of unbridled decadence and depravity in early Hollywood.
From the ferocious comic mind of Billy Eichner (Billy on the Street, 2019's The Lion King, Difficult People, Impeachment: American Crime Story) and the hitmaking brilliance of filmmakers Nicholas Stoller (the Neighbors films, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Judd Apatow (The King of Staten Island, Trainwreck, The Big Sick), comes Bros, a smart, swoony and heartfelt comedy about how hard it is to find another tolerable human being to go through life with.
M3GAN is a marvel of artificial intelligence, a life-like doll programmed to be a child’s greatest companion and a parent’s greatest ally. Designed by brilliant toy-company roboticist Gemma (Get Out’s Allison Williams), M3GAN can listen and watch and learn as she becomes friend and teacher, playmate and protector, for the child she is bonded to. When Gemma suddenly becomes the caretaker of her orphaned 8-year-old niece, Cady (Violet McGraw, The Haunting of Hill House), Gemma’s unsure and unprepared to be a parent. Under intense pressure at work, Gemma decides to pair her M3GAN prototype with Cady in an attempt to resolve both problems—a decision that will have unimaginable consequences.
Two-time Academy Award® nominee Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman, An Education) and Emmy nominee Zoe Kazan (The Plot Against America, The Big Sick) star as New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who together broke one of the most important stories in a generation— a story that shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood and impelled a shift in American culture that continues to this day. From the Academy Award® winning producers of 12 Years a Slave, Moonlight, Minari, Selma and The Big Short and the Oscar®-nominated producer of Zero Dark Thirty and American Hustle, the film is based on the New York Times investigation by Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and Rebecca Corbett and the New York Times bestseller, She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite a Movement by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey.
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/skyshowtime
Twitter: www.twitter.com/SkyShowtime
SkyShowtime is Europe’s newest streaming service. A joint venture of Comcast and Paramount Global, SkyShowtime brings together the best of Hollywood and local entertainment in one place.
From movies, and original series from the iconic brands of Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks Animation, Paramount+, SHOWTIME®, Sky Studios, and Peacock to SkyShowtime Original series, SkyShowtime is Europe’s new home for premium entertainment.
Launched across all of its markets earlier this year, SkyShowtime is available in: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. It is available through select television providers in some markets and across Apple iOS, tvOS, Android devices, Android TV, Google Chromecast, LG TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, and the web.
About SkyShowtime
SkyShowtime is Europe’s newest streaming service. A joint venture of Comcast and Paramount Global, SkyShowtime brings together the best of Hollywood and local entertainment in one place.
From movies, and original series from the iconic brands of Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, DreamWorks Animation, Paramount+, SHOWTIME®, Sky Studios, and Peacock to SkyShowtime Original series, SkyShowtime is Europe’s new home for premium entertainment.
Launched across all of its markets in 2023, SkyShowtime is available in Albania, Andorra, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. It is available through select television providers in some markets and across Apple iOS, tvOS, Android devices, Android TV, Google Chromecast, LG TV, Samsung Smart TVs, and the web.
Contact details
-
Download vCard
- Press Enquiries
- If you have a media enquiry, please contact the team at:
- skyshowtimeenquiries@mcsaatchi.com