Netflix has confirmed it will do its first German-language series with Who Am I? director Baran bo Odar and the producers behind foreign-language Oscar winner The Lives of Others.
The series, entitled Dark, is described as a mysterious saga following four families living in a small German town. Their idyllic life is torn apart when two children mysteriously disappear and the families’ dark secrets begin to come to the surface.
Jantje Friese, who co-wrote Odar’s cyber-thriller Who am I? penned the screenplay for the series.
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Netflix has given a 10-episode order for Dark, which is set to begin production this year and go out to Netflix subscribers worldwide in 2017. Quirin Berg, Max Wiedemann and Justyna Musch will produce.
“Dark is an incredible German story that will appeal to a global audience.” said Erik Barmack, vp international originals at Netflix. “Bo and Jantje are creative talents that have developed great projects in both Berlin and Hollywood, and we are thrilled to be working with them on our first original series entirely authored, shot and produced in Germany.”
Odar scored a local hit with Who Am I? In 2014. The cyber thriller about Berlin hackers, which Wiedemann and Berg produced, starred Tom Schilling, Elyas M’Barek and Hannah Herzsprung and grossed more than $6 million at the local box office.
Netflix’s move into German television drama is part of the company’s overall global strategy. The company has multiple foreign-language series in development or production, including British royalty drama The Crown, Italian crime thriller Suburra and French political series Marseilles.
By investing more in local content, Netflix hopes to attract more foreign subscribers and boost its library of originals worldwide.
