HISTORY Adds Two New Scripted Dramas

PASADENA: Continuing to bulk up its scripted series, HISTORY has slated two new dramas: Knightfall, produced in partnership with Jeremy Renner, and the military-themed SIX, from A+E Studios and The Weinstein Company.

Knightfall, which has been ordered for ten episodes to launch in late 2016, chronicles the mysterious but true accounts of the Knights Templar, the elite warriors of the Crusades. The series is being produced by A+E Studios in association with Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Jeremy Renner’s and Don Handfield’s production company The Combine, along with Midnight Radio. Knightfall will be distributed internationally by A+E Networks.

“We are thrilled to partner with Jeremy Renner, The Combine, Midnight Radio and A+E Studios to tell the intriguing story of the Knights Templar, which has been shrouded in mystery until now,” said Paul Buccieri, the president of A&E and HISTORY. “Premium scripted content continues to be a growing part of the HISTORY portfolio, with an eye toward quality, historical, fact-based storytelling, and Knightfall is the perfect fit for our brand.”

SIX has been ordered for eight episodes, and will be produced by A+E Studios, Harvey Weinstein and The Weinstein Company, in association with Academy Award nominee William Broyles (Castaway, Apollo 13, Jarhead) and David Broyles. The story is inspired by true events, following Navy SEAL Team Six, whose 2014 mission to eliminate a Taliban leader in Afghanistan went awry when they uncovered a U.S. citizen working with the terrorists.

“We are thrilled to partner with William and David Broyles, Harvey Weinstein and the entire team, including our own A+E Studios, to bring this epic tale to HISTORY,” said Buccieri. “The backdrop surrounding this elite team of American soldiers—from their lives at home to the astonishing bravery they display serving our country—provides an amazing canvas for stories that deserve to be told.”

Harvey Weinstein commented: “The idea originally came to me when I read about Boko Haram kidnapping school children in Africa. I thought about how would our world react and it brought on the idea of creating a series about the world of SEAL Team Six because the story felt as poignant and timely as ever. Each year will feature a different theater of war—the first starting in Africa. We then brought on Bill, whom I long admired, along with David to write the pilot. They took my idea and developed a brilliant script for the project and added authenticity to the world in a way that only firsthand experience could possibly bring. SIX is a series that recognizes this country’s great heroes and soldiers, and there’s no doubt that it will make for some of the most important, provocative television seen in ages. While we had vast interest from other networks, our great relationship with Nancy Dubuc, Paul Buccieri and Barry Jossen made HISTORY the clear choice.”

“SIX represents the type of authenticity HISTORY values from our creative and writing teams,” added Jana Bennett, the president and general manager of HISTORY.  “This series will reflect the network’s renewed focus on core programming which embraces our recent history as well as our deeper past.”