VRT bags StudioCanal drama package

Belgium’s VRT has acquired a three-title drama package from Europe-based distributor StudioCanal.

The agreement hands the Flemish-speaking public network Midnight Sun, The Five and Crossing Lines season three.

Midnight Sun will begin on VRT’s network Canvas, which has played similar Scandinavian noirs since 2006, in 2017. The series was originally for Canal+ in France and SVT in Sweden, and comes from Nice Drama and Atlantique Productions.

Harlen Coben-penned thriller The Five, meanwhile, was for Sky 1 in the UK and has subsequently played on Canal+, Yes in Israel, NPO in Holland, Sky in New Zealand, SBS1 in Australia and Telefonica in Spain.

Crossing Lines, an internationally-focused procedural, was for Sat.1 in Germany and comes from Tandem Productions is association with Big Light Productions and Sony Pictures Television Networks.

“We are very pleased to have acquired a standout package of event dramas for VRT and to continue our great partnership with StudioCanal,” said VRT acquisition executive, fiction series Sven Van Lokeren. “We are certain that our viewers will be gripped from the start of each series.”