VAKA is a post-apocalyptic Nordic thriller.
Skybound Entertainment has made a “first-of-its-kind” cope with Prime Video that’s…truly solely form of that. The deal, which might see Prime Video purchase the home distribution rights to VAKA, additionally permits Skybound to buy the present round to distributors (together with Prime) in different components of the world. It’s uncommon within the streaming world, and the primary time Skybound has achieved something prefer it, however as Rick Jacobs, Skybound’s Managing Partner of Linear Content, mentioned, it is extra realistically a return to a pre-streaming establishment, the place studios would pay to make reveals after which provide them as much as distributors.
According to Deadline, who first reported the deal, VAKA is about in Stockholm. Starring Aliette Opheim and Jonas Karlsson, VAKA follows the unfold of a lethal insomnia epidemic. A disgraced minister should stability addressing the disaster and caring for his son, whereas an ambulance nurse goes to nice lengths to save lots of her lover.
The collection is co-produced by the Amazon-owned MGM Studios, Unlimited Stories, and Sagafilm (which itself is a division of Skybound and fifth Planet Games). The Nordic setting is not simply key to the story but additionally to the manufacturing, as VAKA will make the most of Iceland’s beneficiant tax rebates to offset manufacturing prices.
Glenn Geller, head of Skybound’s TV division, informed Deadline that VAKA “fits squarely into the box” of the form of content material followers of The Walking Dead and Invincible count on from the corporate. He added, “It has more post-pandemic resonance in terms of connecting our recent shared experience and exploring a different take on what we’ve all been through, so we are excited to be involved more directly.”
It’s additionally an instance of how Skybound is transferring previous its comedian guide diversifications and beginning to discover solely new content material that they do not already personal. They’ve additionally obtained Tell Me Your Name, from Skybound and Amazon Spain, arising, which Jacobs in comparison with Outcast, the collection from Skybound founder and The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman.
In holding with the philosophy of the Image Comics that made Kirkman well-known, Skybound, based by Kirkman and producer David Alpert, goals to create and handle reveals that they personal, moderately than turning the rights over to main studios and exhibitors. As Deadline notes, that means of doing issues shouldn’t be as unusual outdoors of the U.S. studio system, however something that retains cash out of the arms of a handful of studios within the US might be seen as outside-the-box pondering.
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