France’s Arte makes its move for Garry Kasparov chess drama

Rematch

Arte in France has commissioned Rematch, a scripted drama mini-series about the real-life chess competition between Garry Kasparov and IBM’s supercomputer Deep Blue. 

Directed and co-created by Yan England, alongside André Gulluni, the 6 x 52-minute series is produced by ARTE France and Unité, alongside Federation Studios, which will handle global distribution. Bruno Nahon is producing the series for Unité, with filming in Montreal and Budapest expected to conclude this week.

Based on a true story, Rematch explores the world of high-level chess via the 1997 match between chess champion Kasparov and his machine opponent.

The cast includes Christian Cooke (The Promise, That Dirty Black Bag), Sarah Bolger (The Tudors, Counterpart), Trine Dyrholm (The Legacy, Bauhaus – A New Era), Aidan Quinn (Elementary, Legends of the Fall), Tom Austen (The Royals), Luke Pasqualino (Skins) and Orion Lee (First Cow).

The series joins a slate of other Federation scripted titles including cult spy series The Bureau, financial thriller Bad Banks, Netflix original series Baby, tween drama Find Me In Paris and adventure series Around The World In 80 Days.