SERIES TO AIR WITHIN 24 HOURS OF U.S.
Acquisition Highlights AMC Global’s Commitment to First Run Original Drama
New York / London, April 9, 2015 – AMC Global today announced it has acquired the exclusive first window international television rights to the highly anticipated AMC original series “Into the Badlands.” Produced by AMC Studios, “Into the Badlands” will air on AMC Global within 24 hours of its AMC (U.S.) premiere in all territories where AMC Global is available. The series has been ordered for six, one-hour episodes with an expected premiere in fall 2015.
AMC Global secured the exclusive first window rights for “Into the Badlands” from Entertainment One (eOne), which handles international distribution of the series in all media through their exclusive multi-year output agreement with AMC Networks.
Today’s news follows the recent announcement that AMC Global will launch “Fear the Walking Dead,” the companion series to “The Walking Dead,” around the world later this year.
Bruce Tuchman, President, AMC and Sundance Channel Global, stated: “AMC Global is dedicated to delivering popular, first run original programming to consumers and we are thrilled to add the newest original series from AMC to our slate. We think ‘Into the Badlands’ and ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ will complement each other perfectly as we continue to grow our global footprint and support our pay-TV platform partners in expanding their subscriber base.”
Harold Gronenthal, Executive Vice President, Programming and Operations, AMC and Sundance Channel Global, stated, “With a top notch creative team and an enormously distinctive and compelling storyline with global resonance, we could not be more excited to bring ‘Into the Badlands’ to worldwide audiences. Broadcasting both ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ and ‘Into the Badlands’ within 24 hours of the U.S. allows us to connect viewers around the world as they experience AMC’s freshest original productions together.”
“Into the Badlands” is a genre-bending martial arts series inspired by the classic Chinese tale “Journey to the West.” In a land controlled by feudal barons, “Into the Badlands” tells the story of a great warrior and a young boy who embark on a journey across a dangerous land to find enlightenment.
“Into the Badlands” stars Daniel Wu, who also serves as an executive producer. Wu is a Hong Kong-based Chinese-American actor, director and producer who has been featured in over 60 films. “Into the Badlands” series regulars also include Emily Beecham (“28 Weeks Later,” “The Village”), Sarah Bolger (“The Tudors,” “In America”) and Oliver Stark (“The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box,” “My Hero”). David Dobkin (“The Judge,” “Wedding Crashers,” “Shanghai Knights”) will be the series director.
The project was created by writers/showrunners Al Gough and Miles Millar (“Shanghai Noon,” “Smallville”). They will serve as executive producers along with Wu, Oscar-nominated producers Stacy Sher and Michael Shamberg (“Django Unchained,” “Contagion”), and martial arts filmmaker Stephen Fung.
AMC Networks rebranded the MGM Channel as AMC in late 2014. The rebrand marked the first distribution outside of North America for AMC, one of the most popular and award-winning brands in television. AMC has since launched locally versioned channel feeds on hundreds of cable and satellite platforms across Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Also accompanying these channels are authenticated AMC VOD, HD and “TV Everywhere” services.
In addition to premiering original programming from AMC Networks-owned studios, AMC Global also features popular, acclaimed films from some of the world’s biggest film libraries.
About AMC Global
AMC commemorates favorite films from every genre and decade as well as showcases acclaimed first run original programming to bring audiences something deeper, something richer, Something More. The network has created some of the most award-winning series of the past decade that has re-defined dramatic storytelling. In addition to being widely distributed throughout North America, AMC is available in over 120 countries and territories throughout Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Owned and operated by AMC Networks International (the global division of AMC Networks), it is a premier entertainment destination that is available in HD and SD and across all platforms, including on-air, online, on demand and mobile.
About Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd. (LSE:ETO) is a leading international entertainment company that specializes in the acquisition, production and distribution of film and television content. The company’s comprehensive network extends around the globe including Canada, the U.S., the UK, Ireland, Spain, Benelux, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and South Korea. Through established Film and Television divisions, the company provides extensive expertise in film distribution, television and music production, family programming, merchandising and licensing, and digital content. Its current rights library is exploited across all media formats and includes more than 40,000 film and television titles, 4,500 hours of television programming and 45,000 music tracks