21-05-2025
‘Bad Sisters' Execs Ready New European Series ‘Dead End' For An English-Language Remake
EXCLUSIVE: A trio of key creative forces on Apple TV+'s Bad Sisters say their Flemish comedy-drama Dead End is primed for an English-language remake.
Malin-Sarah Gozin, who created the Belgian series on which Bad Sisters was made and co-created the Apple show, is attending Canneseries with fellow producers Brett Baer and Dave Finkel with quirky drama Dead End, which is playing in competition. Gozin has directed Dead End with Hans Vercauter.
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The show is a six-part drama out of Belgium starring Peter Van den Begin and Elise Schaap about a man with a peculiar eating disorder that makes him a potentially tasty aid to police – he can see the final moments of whatever he puts in his mouth.
Federation Studios recently picked up international sales rights to the finished tape, but Gozin, Baer and Finkel are eyeing an English-language remake, akin to Bad Sisters.
'Whether it's an American version or an English-language version, that has been the game plan all along,' said Baer, who along with production and writing partner Finkel is known for work on shows such as New Girl and United States of Tara.
'Bad Sisters was an eight-year process for us – and even longer for Malin – to get it into production, so how do we shorten that process, especially with the industry as it is right now? Recognising that Dead End is unique and extraordinary, Malin does an incredible job with the Flemish version, then we have this piece of IP to be able to say 'Trust us, it works.' This is hopefully the shortcut for us to take it to other audiences.'
Gozin, who is among Europe's top creative screenwriters, was itching to team with Baer and Finkel after their experience on Bad Sisters, she revealed.
'On Bad Sisters, we vibed so well. I could immediately feel like we share the fascination for the genre blend and how to use dark comedy as a grammar to talk about something real. At the same time, not being afraid of digging deeper.'
She noted that it is one thing to sell a foreign-language scripted title to an American or other English-language buyer, but that the chemistry with the local producer had to click for success.
'You can sell the format, but then you have to look for the creatives who really understand the heart of the show,' she said. 'Often you don't have a say in it, so it's Russian roulette. When I met these guys, it was like 'finally.' They fell in love for the right reasons.'
Finkel added: 'What we fell in love with originally many years ago when we saw Clan – and then when we first met Malin and when we worked on Bad Sisters – was the synergy of what she has been trying to do by creating these universes and giving the audience something that is gripping, bizarre, unique, dramatic, gruesome and surprising. When she pitches an idea like that, you immediately can see seasons of expanse going deeper and deeper into the characters.'
The series – which is for Play Media and Streamz in Belgium and comes from Lompvis and Caviar – stars Tabula Rasa's Peter van den Begin as the unfortunate Ed, who wants to put his unusual gift to good use but struggles with the life it has given him. The producers and stars were in Cannes over the weekend with the show, which is competing against the likes of Belgian-German co-pro How to Kill Your Sister, Korean drama S Line and Norway's Nepobaby among others.
'In general, I like these unique universes where you start from a crazy concept and then try to dig into it and look for something relatable,' said Gozin. 'The crazy idea came from when I had food poisoning from a rotten strawberry, and I started thinking about the concept.'
'Bad Sisters' Season 3 Update
Gozin noted that a third season of Apple TV+ comedy-drama Bad Sisters remains on the boil.
She told Deadline that 'nothing has been confirmed yet' in regards to a third run of the Apple show, which stars Sharon Horgan, Eve Hewson and Anne-Marie Duff among others.
Baer added: 'Sharon, who has more direct involvement with Apple UK, has been a little coy about it in interviews recently. She has a new show that she's just started working on, so I'm not sure.'Best of Deadline
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