ITV Studios Takes Moon Thriller First Woman to Cannes Market
ITV Studios will take a missing-astronaut mystery to Cannes as the centrepiece of its new drama sales slate.
The British studio has put lunar thriller First Woman at the top of its offer for Mipcom, the annual TV market in Cannes where broadcasters and streamers shop for programmes, alongside four other new titles including Steven Moffat's Number 10, according to Variety.
The slate will get a live launch in Cannes. Luke Evans, Richard Armitage, Adrian Dunbar, Lauren Lyle and Moffat are all due to appear at the ITV Studios showcase to present their shows to international buyers.
First Woman is the biggest swing. The series follows a female astronaut who goes missing on the Moon. It stars Andrea Riseborough, Ashley Walters, Alex Hassell and Jennifer Ehle.
The Moon is the crime scene. The production is a co-production between Mammoth Screen and Alcon Entertainment, in co-production with German broadcaster ZDF. A sales slate, in trade terms, is simply the list of shows a studio is offering to channels around the world.
Number 10 comes from Hartswood Films, which is part of ITV Studios. Written by Moffat, the drama is set around 10 Downing Street and stars Rafe Spall, Jenna Coleman and Katherine Kelly. Channel 4 had already shared first-look images of Spall and Coleman in May, according to Deadline.
Two more new titles fill out the list. Winter, from Eagle Eye Drama, stars Armitage as a pathologist based in Bristol. It is based on the French drama Balthazar.
The Party is an adaptation of Elizabeth Day's novel by World Productions. It launches on ITV on Oct. 11 and stars Evans and Tom Cullen, with Sarah Solemani co-starring and writing the scripts.
Returning series anchor the rest of the presentation. Line of Duty is back for a seventh season, reuniting Martin Compston, Vicky McClure and Dunbar, with Robert Carlyle joining the cast. Vigil is back for a third instalment, again starring Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie, this time set in the Arctic Circle.
ITV Studios has also added all four original seasons of Sherlock, first broadcast from 2010 to 2017, to its sales catalogue. That catalogue is the library of finished shows it licenses, meaning sells the rights, to other broadcasters.
For fans, this means waiting. Mipcom is about where shows will air outside their home country. UK viewers already have dates for some titles, like The Party, while international audiences will learn their local channels and release dates once those licensing deals close.
