Amazon Greenlights More Than 20 New & Returning Series

Amazon Prime Video has greenlit more than 20 new and returning original series to go into production in Germany, Italy, Spain, India, Japan, Mexico and the U.K., including the global thriller The Power, based on the best-selling and award-winning novel.

The ten-part series The Power is written and created by British author Naomi Alderman, based on her novel of the same name. The Power will be produced by Sister Pictures and is executive produced by Jane Featherstone (Broadchurch, The Split, Utopia), Naomi de Pear (The Bisexual, Flowers), Naomi Alderman and Reed Morano (The Handmaid’s Tale), who will also direct. The series is produced by Tim Bricknell (Trust, Taboo). The Power follows as suddenly, and without warning, all teenage girls in the world develop the power to electrocute people at will. It’s hereditary, it’s inbuilt and it can’t be taken away from them.

The Spanish Prime Original drama La Templanza is a love story set in the 1860s spanning Mexico, Cuba, London and Spain. The series is based on the eponymous best-selling novel by María Dueñas and is being produced by Atresmedia Studios. Created and produced by Zebra Producciones and written by Luis Arranz and Adolfo Martinez, the new Spanish Prime Original series El Cid retells the story of the most famous Spaniard in history, a man trapped between two worlds and two cultures, from a contemporary perspective.

Italian writers Nicola Guaglianone and Menotti are working on the first-ever Italian Prime Original drama series. The crime drama, set in Milan in the late ’80s, tells the story of a shy, insecure teenager who becomes the youngest member of the mafia—not for money, ambition or the desire of power, but to win the love of her father. It is being produced by Lorenzo Mieli and Mario Gianani’s Wildside for Amazon Studios.

A new German Prime Original series, Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo is based on the controversial 1978 autobiographical book of the same name (We Children of Bahnhof Zoo). Adapted for TV under head writer Annette Hess (Weissensee, Ku’damm 56/59), the series tells the story of Christiane F. and her dysfunctional friends, who as teenagers descend into the gritty drug scene of 1970s West Berlin.

From India, Bandish Bandits is a romantic musical created by Still and Still Media Collective. Directed by Anand Tiwari and written by Amritpal Singh Bindra, it tells the love story between Radhe, a skilled Indian classical singer shackled by centuries of tradition, and Tamanna, a free-spirited pop star who makes up for her mediocre talent with her skills as a seasoned performer.

Created and directed by Amit Kumar (Monsoon Shootout), with Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia (Amy) as EP, the new Indian Prime Original The Last Hour is a crime thriller with a supernatural twist set in a small picturesque hill station in the Himalayas.

Also from India are an investigative thriller created by Sudip Sharma (writer of NH 10, Udta Punjab) and produced by Clean Slate Films; a youth-focused drama from writer/producer/director Ali Abbas Zafar (Sultan, Tiger Zinda Hai) that explores the dark corners of Indian politics; a reality series created and hosted by comedian Sapan Verma where celebrities try their hand at stand-up comedy for the first time; and Comicstaan (Tamil), a regional language spin-off from Amazon Prime Video’s Comicstaan.

There are a handful of projects from Mexico, among them El Presidente, produced by Oscar‐winning director Pablo Larrain’s production company Fabula (Jackie, A Fantastic Woman) and Gaumont (Narcos). The true-crime series is inspired by the real-life characters and events behind the 2015 “FIFA Gate” corruption scandal. From Dynamo (Narcos, El Chapo) and Red Creek Productions (Sins of My Father), an untitled sci-fi/horror comedy is being readied, alongside El Juego de las Llaves, a comedy about long-term monogamy, self-realization and desire, set in modern-day Mexico City. A Mexican Prime Original series is being co-produced with Televisa, with Mexico City playing the backdrop to an intertwining story comprised of politicians, assassins, government spies and drug cartels. Como Sobevivir Soltero (How to Survive Being Single) is a one-hour dramedy series presenting a fictionalized take on the life of Mexican actor Sebastian Zurita and a group of his millennial friends who are all unlucky in love.

An unscripted Prime Original is being produced by VICE Media Japan. The social-issue series will tackle various topics concerning relevant issues, with each feature followed by panel discussions headlined by popular entertainers and diverse panels of guest commentators. Also coming to the platform, Japan’s The Bachelorette is a local version of the American reality dating competition format.

Returning series include Mirzapur (India), Hitoshi Matsumoto Presents Documental (Japan), LOL: Last One Laughing (Mexico), Diablo Guardian (Mexico) and The Grand Tour (U.K.).

It was also announced during Amazon’s TCA presentation that the highly anticipated Prime Original series Good Omens will premiere on May 31. Al Pacino is leading the cast of The Hunt, which follows a diverse band of Nazi hunters living in 1977 New York City. Hanna, based on Joe Wright’s 2011 film, debuts March 29.