Paramount+ Partners with Gaumont

Paramount+ has entered into a long-term slate partnership with Gaumont to produce international scripted originals.

Gaumont will produce several originals in association with Paramount’s international studio, VIS, as part of Paramount+’s plan to greenlight 50 new international scripted originals in 2022.

VIS will gain access to Gaumont’s network of talent and creatives in key Paramount+ markets, including Latin America and Europe.

From the partnership, Paramount+ has greenlit The Signal (Le Signal) for production to premiere on Paramount+ internationally. The horror thriller is based on the best-selling novel by Maxime Chattam and led by showrunner François Uzan (Lupin).

After losing her beloved sister in a car accident, famous radio host Olivia Dormeuil moves to an old house on an isolated island with her family. But the change of scenery soon proves more challenging than expected when the family’s unspoken fears begin to take ghostly form and some inhabitants of the island start to die in strange circumstances. To unravel the mystery, the family will risk their lives to dive into the bowels of the island, into the heart of darkness, facing demons of the past that might be too scary, or too shameful, to confront.

Greenlit for development, Futuro Desierto (Desolate Future) is a near-future, dystopian thriller that centers on a robotics engineer who moves with his family to an isolated town in Patagonia, where he is ordered to test the first humanoid robots in secret. Argentina’s Lucia Puenzo (XXY, The German Doctor) will co-showrun and direct multiple episodes with her brother, Nicolas Puenzo (Cromo, La Jauría).

Anywhere is a dramedy from creator and screenwriter Jana Burbach​ (Bad Banks, Tribes of Europa). In the series, Toni Falk’s chameleon-like hyper-flexibility skills help her in her career but leave her lonely and lost, unable to form healthy relationships. After a casual lover declares his love for her, Toni is struck by a curse that transports her to different versions of her life. Now, she has to somehow find a way home, to wherever that may be.

Impact is based on the best-selling novel by Olivier Norek. The thriller explores one man’s battle against the catastrophic ecological situation of our planet. After pollution killed his newborn daughter, Virgil Solal, goes to war, alone, against giants, with his message soon finding echoes all over the globe in the form of a herd of masked supporters. ​​It is co-created by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade (Murder on a Sunday Morning, The Staircase), Antoine Lacomblez (Laetitia) and Severine Werba (Spiral).

“This long-term partnership with the storied and esteemed production company Gaumont is another example of our commitment to producing high-quality content that crosses borders and resonates with audiences worldwide,” said Raffaele Annecchino, Paramount’s president and CEO of international networks, studios and streaming. “Our strong, multi-faceted and creative global content strategy, combined with strategic investments and deep-rooted history of bringing compelling global and local hits to our audience, sets Paramount+ up for continued success.”

“We are excited to start a global relationship with Paramount+ and contribute to its international rollout with four new shows in Europe and Latin America,” commented Sidonie Dumas, CEO of Gaumont.