Lionsgate Picks Up U.S. and U.K. Rights to Period Drama 'Rise of the Raven'
Lionsgate has acquired the U.S. and U.K. rights to 'Rise of the Raven', a period drama that set all-time ratings records on its broadcast premiere in Hungary, Variety reported.
Buying rights means Lionsgate now controls how the series reaches viewers in those two countries. The studio is the company that will show the show there, rather than the one that made it.
The series is a 10-part drama based on bestselling novels by Mór Bán. It was co-produced by Hungary's TV2 Network and Austrian public broadcaster ORF, with support from the National Film Institute of Hungary. Serendipity Point Films, Twin Media, HG Media, MR Film and Beta Film also worked on the production.
Robert Dornhelm, Orsi Nagypál and Attila Szász directed the episodes. Balázs Lengyel served as showrunner, meaning he oversaw the series day to day, and he directed the final episode. Robert Lantos is credited as a producer.
Beta Film, the company that sells the series to broadcasters, has already found buyers well beyond Hungary. According to Variety, the show has been sold to CBC in Canada, RAI in Italy, SBS in Australia, Telekom Deutschland in Germany, LG Uplus in South Korea and YES in Israel.
The Hungarian numbers are the strongest signal of demand so far. The series reached No. 1 on Netflix in Hungary, Variety said, and its TV2 premiere set ratings records for the broadcaster.
For viewers in the U.S. and U.K., the deal turns a series that has travelled across much of the world into something they can watch at home. For the people who made it, a sale in each new territory adds another market to a show that began as a Hungarian and Austrian co-production.
Lionsgate's deal is one of several moves that have followed the show's run on Hungarian television. Each sale is a separate agreement with its own broadcaster or platform, so the series may reach audiences in different places at different times.
