In today’s Global Bulletin, Netflix picks up the rights to Spanish feature “Sky High” for a series adaptation, French crime series “Balthazar” posts record audience numbers for TF1, Mexican filmmaker Juan Ernesto Regalado Morales receives this year’s Guillermo del Toro-backed Jenkins-Del Toro Scholarship, and French journalist Augustin Trapenard announces he’s leaving Canal Plus.
ADAPTATION
Netflix has acquired global rights to the feature film “Sky High,” the leading Spanish film at the domestic box office over the holiday period, trailing only “The Croods: A New Age” and “Wonder Woman 1984” from abroad, and will develop the IP into a new original series.
Creators Daniel Calparsoro and Jorge Guerricaechevarría will helm the small-screen adaptation, set to pick up where the film drops off. Netflix is teaming once again with the film’s producers, Vaca Films, having previously commissioned the company’s thriller series “The Mess You Leave Behind.”
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“Sky High” tracks a small group of thieves who somehow manage to stay one step ahead of the Madrid police. The feature headlines Spanish superstar Luis Tosar as well as rising stars Miguel Herrán (“Money Heist”) and Carolina Yuste (“Carmen & Lola”). Casting for the series has not been announced, and it’s not yet clear if the trio will return for the adaptation.
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RATINGS
Running Nov. 12 to Dec. 17 this year, ITV Studio‘s French crime thriller “Balthazar” pulled record ratings for France’s TF1 and Belgium’s La Une. Some 7.1 million viewers tuned in to the series’ finale, capping a run that saw Season 3’s eight episodes average 6.48 million viewers, up from 5.91 million for Season 2.
On Dec. 1, fans of the program were thrilled when Season 4 was announced. But, the news turned bittersweet two weeks later when series star Hélène de Fougerolles announced that her time playing police commander Hélène Bach has reached its end, and she would not return for any future seasons.
SCHOLARSHIP
The Jenkins-Del Toro Scholarship, awarded through an agreement between the Jenkins Foundation; the board of trustees of the Guadalajara International Film Festival, the University of Guadalajara, the University of Guadalajara AC Foundation and filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, have announced director Juan Ernesto Regalado Morales as the recipient of this year’s $60,000 scholarship.
The film was selected by a jury that included Del Toro, his longtime producer Beth Navarro (“Pan’s Labyrinth”), Mexican scream queen Issa López (“Tigers Are Not Afraid”), animator José Solorzano, film critic Silvestre López Portillo and actor Daniela Schmidt (“Eight Out of Ten”).
Regalado received the honor in recognition of his first film, “Nendok entre lagunas” (Nendok between Lagoons), which featured at Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal’s Ambulante Festival, and was described by the jury as “a work that demonstrates a transformative point of view, visual quality, a decisive capacity and commitment to his community and society.”
DEPARTURE
French journalist Augustin Trapenard, presenter on “Le Cercle,” “21cm” and “Le Grand Journal,” has announced that he will leave Canal Plus at the end of January, having spent the last eight years with the company. News follows the controversial, high-profile layoffs at Canal Plus of columnist and presenter Sébastien Thoen and sports commentator Stéphane Guy.
Trapenard tweeted his plans, saying: “After this strange year, I have other desires, other projects. I will keep everything I’ve learned, everything we’ve been through, everyone I’ve had the chance to work with for almost 10 years. It is with emotion that I will leave Canal Plus at the end of January.”
❤️📺🙏🏻 Après cette étrange année, j’ai d’autres envies, d’autres projets. Je garde tout ce que j’ai appris, tout ce qu’on a vécu, tous ceux et celles avec qui j’ai eu la chance de travailler depuis presque 10 ans. C’est avec émotion que je quitterai @canalplus fin janvier. pic.twitter.com/URvCsN5h8r
— Augustin Trapenard (@ATrapenard) December 29, 2020
In a brief release, Canal Plus confirmed Trapenard’s departure, saying “The Group thanks him for his work over the past 10 years and wishes him every success in his new projects,” before confirming that “Le Cercle” would be returning to the network soon.