Thursday round-up: Latest news, deals & hires

Sky’s Das Boot returns to US

US streamer MHz Choice has picked up rights to Sky drama Das Boot, marking the second time the Kino Lorber-owned outfit has picked up rights to a show that didn’t finish its Stateside run with the original acquirer.

Das Boot will launch the first season - previously available via Hulu - on 7 July. S2, which has never been seen in the US, will debut on MHz Choice on 4 August, with premiere dates for S3 and S4 yet to be confirmed.

MHz Choice struck the deal with NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution in a package that includes fellow Sky originals Dostoyevsky and Piedone - A Cop in Naples from Italy, and German series Drift - Partners in Crime.

The deal for Das Boot, which follows the crew of a U-boat as they embark on their maiden voyage in 1942, comes two years after MHz Choice picked up rights to fellow German drama Babylon Berlin, which had debuted on Netflix.

ITVS strikes WBD deal in LatAm

Warner Bros. Discovery has picked up more than 60 hours of unscripted shows from ITV Studios for its Discovery and Discovery Home & Health Channels in Latin America.

The deal, brokered by vice president of sales for US and LatAm Catalina Ramirez, includes Worlds Apart (South Shore), which follows unlikely duos from two different generations who believe they have nothing in common as they compete in a unique journey across Japan.

Also included in the package is Ashley Cain into the Danger Zone (True North Productions), My Mom, Your Dad USA (ITV America), and River Monsters (Icon Films).

Fox returns to Highway to Heaven

NBC drama Highway to Heaven is getting rebooted by Fox more than four decades after its debut.

The show, which originally ran for five seasons and was created by Michael Landon, is being remade by writer-producer Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights).

The reboot is slated to debut during the 2027-28 season and is being produced by Fox Entertainment Studios, which owns all rights. Katims is showrunner, with Amblin Television’s Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, and Todd Cohen also attached alongside Mark Itkin and Michael Landon Productions’ Cindy Landon, who oversaw the original and is widow of Michael Landon.

Worldwide distribution is via Fox Entertainment Global.

UK’s Sky experiments with microdrama

Sky is to test the waters with microdrama production, ordering a pilot to be filmed at the Isle of Wight Festival in June, Broadcast has learned. 

The broadcaster already has a major presence at the festival: it is the headline sponsor and Sky Arts isthe broadcast partner. The pilot will be filmed backstage at the festival - headlined this year by Lewis Capaldi, Calvin Harris and The Cure - with no current plans for broadcast. 

A Sky spokesperson said: “We’re always exploring new ways to tell stories and reach audiences, including looking at emerging formats like microdramas. This is very early-stage experimentation for us.” 

Production of the pilot will be overseen by CC Lab, which produces Sky’s festival coverage.