Paramount Plus (try it free here!) today announced global premiere dates for key internationally produced originals. The news comes as the service’s international slate of content sees strong performance among subscribers around the world and continues to expand with 85 international originals already produced, in production or greenlit for Paramount+.
It also follows the launch of Paramount Television International Studios earlier this year, the new international studio division of Paramount Global, which is focused on creating premium international scripted content to fuel the growth of Paramount Plus.
Among the slate of originals, British drama The Gold will premiere across all international markets on September 14 and in the US on September 17; globally acclaimed Korean crime-thriller Bargain will debut globally on October 5; and the second season of the Spanish-language series Los Enviados will land on Paramount+ globally by the end of this year, following the success of the first season as the service’s best-performing Spanish-language scripted series in the U.S. to date.
With premiere dates to be announced at a later time, British drama Sexy Beast will drop globally, along with the Korean series Queen Woo and A Bloody Lucky Day, which will premiere exclusively on the streaming service in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
Paramount Plus continues to invest in internationally-originated content, particularly through Paramount Television International Studios, which recently surpassed the mark of 70 percent of viewership from outside the content’s origin country.
Recent successes include the Mexican films At Midnight and Uno Para Morir (“Death’s Roulette”) having surpassed 85 percent of viewership from non-Mexican markets, with Uno Para Morir becoming a top 10 title watched across the globe.
Tom Ryan, President and Chief Executive Officer, Streaming, Paramount, said: “At Paramount+, we believe in the power of internationally originated content to drive engagement.
“We know there is a huge appetite for premium high-quality programming from around the world, and we are thrilled to leverage Paramount’s global scale and expertise to build a slate of new hits and franchises with worldwide appeal.”
PARAMOUNT PLUS INTERNATIONAL ORIGINALS
THE GOLD
The Gold (UK) premieres September 14 with all episodes available in international markets and September 17 in the US with the first two episodes, followed by weekly episode releases.
The miniseries is inspired by the real-life events that took place on November 26, 1983, when six armed men broke into the Brink’s-Mat security depot near London’s Heathrow Airport, and inadvertently stumbled across gold bullion worth £26m. What started as a typical Old Kent Road armed robbery, according to detectives at the time, became a seminal event in British criminal history, remarkable not only for the scale of the theft — at the time the biggest in world history — but for its wider legacy.
The disposal of the bullion caused the birth of large-scale international money laundering, provided the dirty money that helped fuel the London Docklands property boom, united blue- and white-collar criminals, and left controversy and murder in its wake.
Created and written by Neil Forsyth (Guilt), The Gold stars Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey, Paddington 1 and 2).
Also starring are Jack Lowden (Small Axe: Mangrove, Slow Horses), Dominic Cooper (The Preacher, The Devil’s Double), Charlotte Spencer (The Duke, Cinderella), Tom Cullen (Becoming Elizabeth, Black Mirror), Emun Elliott (Guilt, Old), Sean Harris (Southcliffe, Mission: Impossible), Ellora Torchia (Ali and Ava, Midsommar) and Stefanie Martini (Prime Suspect, The Last Kingdom).
Co-produced by Tannadice Pictures, an Objective Fiction partner, and Paramount Television International Studios, The Gold provides a pulsating dramatization of this extraordinary and epic story for the first time in its entirety. The Gold is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution outside of the Paramount Plus markets.
BARGAIN
Bargain (South Korea) premieres globally with all episodes to drop on October 5.
Bargain revolves around a group of strangers who gather at a remote motel with ulterior motives – seeking to bargain. Unlike the original film, the series follows the characters after an unexpected earthquake traps them inside the building. With no one to trust, they must find a way to survive.
Bargain has been awarded with the Critics’ Choice Award at Serien Camp Festival in Cologne in June, and won Best Screenplay at Canneseries Festival this year.
Bargain is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution outside of Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Bargain is a project developed by Paramount+ and TVING, out of Paramount’s global partnership with the Korean entertainment powerhouse, CJ ENM.
LOS ENVIADOS SEASON 2
Los Enviados Season 2 (Latin America) premieres globally by the end of 2023.
To find out whether there’s truth to the miracles that occur around the world, that is Pedro Salinas and Simón Antequera’s mission. Together with Sister Emilia, they form an effective investigation team, unafraid to face the divine and the human to find the truth.
Even if they have to put their faith, their intelligence, their values and their contradictions at stake. Because they know that, behind the miracles, whether they’re true or not, there are always hidden interests and mysteries.
Season 1 of Los Enviados has become the top-performing Spanish-language series on Paramount+ in the US just after its premiere in the market. Los Enviados Season 2 is produced by 100 Bares, Portocabo and Paramount Television International Studios. Los Enviados is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.
SEXY BEAST
The premiere date for Sexy Beast (UK) will be announced at a later date.
James McArdle (Mare of Easttown, Angels in America) leads the cast as Gal Dove and Emun Elliott (The Rig, The Gold) stars as Don Logan – the duo are best friends and small-town thieves, living the good life in ’90s East London. Sarah Greene (Bad Sisters, Normal People) is Deedee, a captivating adult film star, who has the potential to turn Gal’s whole life upside down.
Stephen Moyer (True Blood, Shots Fired) is Teddy Bass, a rising name in the gangster world, who Gal and Don are offered the chance to work with on a high-profile heist. Tamsin Greig (Episodes, Friday Night Dinner) is Don’s stern and formidable older sister Cecilia.
The prequel series will explore Gal and Don’s complicated relationship as Gal finds himself descending into the seductive madness of the London criminal world during the vibrant and volatile 1990s, while falling in love with Deedee.
Sexy Beast is produced by AC Chapter One Pictures, Anonymous Content and Paramount Television International Studios. The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution outside of the Paramount Plus markets.
QUEEN WOO
The premiere date for Queen Woo (South Korea) will be announced at a later date.
Upon the death of King Ko Nam Moo, Korea’s Goguryeo region’s ninth King, a fierce battle between all the tribes owned by the late King’s brothers begins. In efforts to inherit the throne, a chase to marry one of the King’s brothers ensues, and the series follows the journey of Queen Woo Hee, the first woman in history to become queen twice.
The series is produced by ANDMARQ Studio, Compass Pictures and CJ ENM Studio. Queen Woo is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution outside of Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
A BLOODY LUCKY DAY
The premiere date for A Bloody Lucky Day (South Korea) will be announced at a later date.
A Bloody Lucky Day is a thriller action series following an ordinary taxi driver Taek, who gets entangled with a customer that turns out to be a serial killer.
The series is produced by CJ ENM’s production house Studio Dragon, The Great Show and Studio N. A Bloody Lucky Day is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution outside of Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
Mirko Parlevliet has been reporting on the entertainment industry since 1998 and founded Vital Thrills in 2018 to cover the latest news on streaming, movies, TV, and video games.