Award-winning actress Noomi Rapace and renowned actor Nicholas Pinnock join the cast of Django

Tuesday 11 May 2021

A CANAL+ création originale and Sky original TV series starring Matthias Schoenaerts and directed by Francesca Comencini.

Principal photography starts in Bucharest.

Django, the high-concept reimagining of the classic Western, relies on a stellar cast; joining Matthias Schoenaerts, who stars as the eponymous Django, are internationally famous actors Noomi Rapace and Nicholas Pinnock and young rising star Lisa Vicari.

Noomi Rapace, the Swedish star well known for her roles in the films Prometheus, Sherlock Holmes and What Happened to Monday as well as independent films Daisy Diamond and The Secrets We Keep, is upcoming in Lambreleasing in Fall 2021, will play John Ellis’ powerful and merciless enemy Elizabeth; while actor and founder of Silver Milk Productions Nicholas Pinnock, who has appeared on the big screen in films The Last Tree and Dark Encounterand is known on television from popular dramas Counterpart, Top Boy, Fortitude, Marcella and most recently For Life, will take the key role of John Ellis, Django’s antagonist.

And the talented German rising star Lisa Vicari, known for her performances in the film Luna and, more recently, in the popular series Dark, will take the key role of Sarah, Django’s long lost daughter.

The international cast is also composed of several young and brilliant European and British actors, including Jyuddah Jaymes (Clique, Criminal: UK), Eric Kole (Fifty Pence, Hold) and Benny Opoku-Arthur (Get Lucky, Alexanderplatz) as John Ellis’ three sons, as well as Tom Austen (The Royals, Grantchester) in the role of Elijah and actress and Youtuber Abigail Thorn as Jess.

Loosely based on the Sergio Corbucci feature film Django, the highly-anticipated, prestigious English-language series is being produced for Sky and CANAL+ by the award-winning French production company Atlantique Productions (Midnight Sun, The Eddy), part of Mediawan, and Cattleya (ZeroZeroZero, Gomorrah the Series), Italy’s leading independent film and TV drama producer and part of ITV Studios, along with co-producers Sky and CANAL+ and in collaboration with Odeon Fiction and StudioCanal.

Principal photography has just started in Romania and the 10 x 1 hour TV series, also made with the support from the Romanian Government, will be shot on location over six months in Racos, Bucharest and the Danube area.

The story is set in the Wild West in the 1860s and 1870s. Sarah and John have founded New Babylon, a city of outcasts, full of men and women of all backgrounds, races and creeds, that welcomes everyone with open arms.

Haunted by the murder of his family eight years earlier, Django is still looking for his daughter, believing she may have survived. He is shocked to find her in New Babylon, about to marry John. But Sarah, now a grown woman, wants Django to leave, as she fears he will put New Babylon in jeopardy if he stays. However, Django, believing the city is in danger, is adamant that he will not lose his daughter twice.

Django is a highly ambitious production which is set to deliver a contemporary and psychological twist on the Western genre through an engaging narrative and an accurate representation of the period.

The Sky Original series and CANAL+ Création Originale Django will be broadcast on Sky’s services in Italy, the UK, Ireland, Austria, Germany and Switzerland and on CANAL+ channels in France, Switzerland, Benelux and Africa. STUDIOCANAL has worldwide distribution rights.

The first episodes will be directed by Francesca Comencini (Gomorrah the Series), who will also be the series’ artistic director. Django was created and written by Leonardo Fasoli (Gomorrah the Series, ZeroZeroZero) and Maddalena Ravagli (Gomorrah the Series, ZeroZeroZero), who, together, also co-wrote the series treatment with Francesco Cenni and Michele Pellegrini, with two episodes written by Max Hurwitz (ZeroZeroZero, Manhunt).

Rapace is repped by CAA, Stella Härnström, Narrative and and Hirsh Wallerstein Hayum Matlof & Fishman. Pinnock is repped by Matt Smith and Steven Brown at ICM, Oliver Slinger at Independent Talent and Jeff Golenberg at Silverlining Entertainment.

About Sky Studios

Sky Studios brings to screen unique stories from the very best talent in Europe.

We develop, produce and fund original drama, comedy and documentary for Sky’s 24m customers and beyond. Building on the success of critically-acclaimed Sky Originals including Emmy-winning Chernobyl, Bafta-winning Patrick Melrose and international hits Das Boot, Riviera and Britannia, Sky

Studios is the new creative home of Sky Originals, such as The Third Day with Jude Law, I Hate Suzie, co-created by Lucy Prebble and Billie Piper and BAFTA-nominated hit comedy, Brassic.

We’re an agile Studio, seeking out the best untold stories from new voices while working in creative partnership with today’s best writers, producers and on-screen talent to bring viewers stories they wouldn’t find anywhere else.

With commissioning talent and production capability across the UK, Germany and Italy, we understand local tastes across Europe better than anyone else and have plans to more than double our investment in original content by 2024, fully supported and backed by Comcast NBC Universal.

We’re also developing a new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, which is expected to lead to the creation of over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in the UK creative sector in the first five years alone.

Sky Studios invests in the cultural economy and global production sector with equity stakes in several production companies in the UK and the US, including Great British Bake-Off creator Love Productions, and the premier reality crime producer in the US, Jupiter Entertainment, creator of long-running hit Snapped. Sky Studios has invested in high quality factual specialists Blast Films and True North Productions; entertainment and format expert Znak & Co (US & UK); natural history producer True to Nature; drama producers The Lighthouse and Longboat Pictures; and growth businesses Sugar Films, Chrysalis Vision, and Talos Films (US).

Sky Studios launched in June 2019. The senior leadership team is Chief Executive Officer Gary Davey, Chief Content Officer Jane Millichip, Chief Operating Officer Caroline Cooper, Director of Drama UK Cameron Roach, Director of Comedy UK Jon Mountague, Director Original Production Sky Italia Nils Hartmann, and Director Original Productions Sky Deutschland Marcus Ammon.

About Sky

Sky is Europe’s leading media and entertainment company and is proud to be part of the Comcast group. Across six countries, we connect our 23.4 million customers to the best entertainment, sports, news and arts including our own award-winning original content.

Our technology, including the market leading Sky Q, connects people to everything they love – with entertainment from Sky TV, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer, and apps like Spotify, YouTube, BBC Sounds, Highbrow, Peloton, Fiit, and more, in one place, easy. Our streaming service NOW brings viewers all the enjoyment of Sky with the flexibility of a contract-free service. Through our new B2B broadband provider, Sky Connect, we offer superfast broadband with business-grade 4G back-up to small businesses in the UK.

Building on the success of Sky Originals like Chernobyl, Gangs of London and Brassic, we are doubling our investment in original content by 2024 through Sky Studios. Sky News provides impartial and trustworthy journalism for free, Sky Arts is the UK’s only dedicated free-to-air arts channel making the arts accessible for everyone and Sky Sports, our leading sports broadcasting service, brings customers some of the biggest and best global sporting events from the Premier League to Formula 1 and everything in-between. Our new TV and movie studio, Sky Studios Elstree, which will open in 2022, is expected to create over 2,000 new jobs and generate an additional £3 billion of production investment in the UK over the first five years.

We believe that we can be a force for good in the communities in which we operate. We’re committed to being Europe’s first net zero carbon entertainment company by 2030 and we’re proud to be a Principal Partner and Media Partner of COP26. We take pride in our approach to diversity and inclusion: we’ve been recognised by The Times and Stonewall for our commitment to diversity and we’ve set ambitious 2025 targets to continue to increase diversity and representation. We’re also committed to investing £30million across our markets over three years to improve our approach to diversity and inclusion, and to tackle racial injustice.

About NOW

NOW is the home of brilliant entertainment. We’re one of the UK’s leading streaming platforms with critically acclaimed shows, new and exclusive movies, unmissable sport and epic kids TV – all with no contract. Join in with an Entertainment, Cinema, Sports, Kids or hayu Membership to stream instantly across TV, mobile, desktop and over 60 other devices. Watch on the go and even offline with our app by downloading shows and movies. Entertainment Members can enjoy critically acclaimed dramas, documentaries and comedies, Emmy award-winning shows, the best of HBO and exclusive Sky Originals. Cinema Members can discover over 1000 brilliant movies, from the latest blockbusters and classic favourites and a new premiere every day. Sports Members cheer on unmissable Premier League, international cricket, F1, golf and more – all live, across 11 Sky Sports channels.Plus, members can enhance their experience with NOW Boost – that’s full 1080p HD, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and streaming on up to 3 devices at once, for an extra £3 a month.For super-fast broadband, members can enjoy a contract-free connection with a NOW Brilliant Broadband, Fab Fibre or Super Fibre Membership.

About CANAL+ Group

CANAL+ Group is a leading media company and pay-TV operator. It is also a leading player in free-to-air television with three national channels, C8, CSTAR and CNEWS, and an ads sales agency. CANAL+ Group has a wide international footprint with a presence in Europe, Africa and Asia. CANAL+ Group totals 21.8 million subscribers worldwide, including 8.7 million in mainland France. With STUDIOCANAL, CANAL+ Group is also a European leader in the production, acquisition and distribution of feature films and TV series. CANAL+ Group is wholly-owned by worldwide integrated content, media and communication group, Vivendi.

About Atlantique Productions

Atlantique Productions, a Mediawan company, is a leading French producer of high-end TV series. The production company is primarily creative driven with a focus on the development, packaging and production of dramas for the local and international market. Based in Paris, Atlantique embraces collaborations with experienced talents and producers from Europe and the US. Among Atlantique’s recent productions: The Eddy, Eden and Hierro (2 seasons). Atlantique’s major credits also include Midnight Sun and Borgia (3 seasons).

About Cattleya

Cattleya, one of Italy’s leading independent film and television producers, has made over 70 theatrical features and numerous television series. Over the last several years Cattleya has focused its slate primarily on TV drama production, developing projects for both national and international markets. Series like Gomorrah and Romanzo Criminale, applauded by the public and critics alike, have placed Cattleya among the highest echelon of European producers, allowing the company to create internationally acclaimed shows such as Suburra, ZeroZeroZero,Summertime and Romulus. In 2017, ITV Studios, the UK’s biggest production and distribution company, acquired a majority stake in Cattleya.

About STUDIOCANAL

STUDIOCANAL, a 100% affiliate of CANAL+ Group held by Vivendi, is Europe’s leader in production, distribution and international sales of feature films and TV series, operating directly in all three major European markets - France, the United Kingdom and Germany - as well as in Australia and New Zealand.

STUDIOCANAL owns one of the most important film libraries in the world, boasting nearly, 6,000 titles from 60 countries. Spanning 100 years of film history, this vast and unique catalogue includes among others the iconic Terminator 2, Rambo, Breathless, Mulholland Drive, The Pianist, The Graduate, The Third Man, and Belle de jour.

STUDIOCANAL has fully financed box office hits Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Paddington 1 and 2, The Commuter and Shaun the Sheep Movie. Upcoming films backed by STUDIOCANAL include Will Sharpe’s The Electrical Life of Louis Wain starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy, Augustine Frizzell’s The Last Letter from your Lover adapted from Jojo Moyes’ best-selling novel, Navot Papushado’s female action thriller Gunpowder Milkshake and Gil Kenan’s live action A Boy called Christmas.

STUDIOCANAL is actively producing and developing a slate of premium international TV series in-house, as well as through its network of award-winning subsidiary production companies, which includes Germany’s TANDEM Productions (Shadowplay), the UK’s RED Production Company (Years and Years, It’s a Sin, Finding Alice), URBAN MYTH FILMS (War of the Worlds) and Spain's BAMBÚ PRODUCCIONES (Instinto). The company is also an associate of Danish-based SAM Productions founded by Søren Sveistrup, Adam Price, and Meta Louise Foldager (Ride Upon the Storm) and Benedict Cumberbatch’s SUNNYMARCH TV (Patrick Melrose).

STUDIOCANAL produces more than 200 hours of TV series each year distributing productions and CANAL+ Creation Originale worldwide with 1,000 hours of current and library content in distribution.

About Odeon Fiction

Odeon Fiction is one of Germany’s biggest most established production companies and belongs to Odeon Film Group, which, since 2019, is part of Leonine. Odeon Film has produced and co-produced numerous feature films, TV movies and TV series, some of them running since 20 years on prominent slots on German television. Many of them received several national and international awards. In addition to producing for the public German broadcasters, Odeon Film’s recent developments have been commissioned by the newer players in Germany such as Netflix, TNT, Amazon, or SKY, and will be aired from 2021 on. Odeon Film is also stepping more and more into international productions and has recently produced the English language spy thriller series Spy City by William Boyd starring Dominic Cooper, Leonie Benesch and Johanna Wokalek (ZDF, Magenta TV, Miramax, recently sold to AMC in the US) and co-produced Finnish-German scandi-noir series Deadwind (YLE, Netflix).

PRESS CONTACTS

Sky Studios

Harrison Kelly harrison.kelly@sky.uk

Isabella Ferilli isabella.ferilli@skytv.it

Sky UK

Calum McGarry calum.mcgarry@premiercomms.com

Sneh Rupra sneh.rupra@premiercomms.com

Sky DE

Birgit Ehmann birgit.ehmann@sky.de

CANAL+

Delphine Huchet delphine.huchet@canal-plus.com

Atlantique productions