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As per an exclusive report by Variety, The Plague is one of the standout recent French-language dramas on Oble's slate and has now been secured by a number of international broadcasters! To its credit, Winter Palace has also been sold to major markets, proving again that European scripted content remains highly sought after internationally.
The talks took place at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous TV market in Le Havre, a meeting place where French producers and foreign buyers are said to intermingle.
While The Plague presents a near-future remake of Albert Camus's ever-lasting novel, Winter Palace transports viewers to 19th-century Switzerland with dreams of reform, social transformation, and hospitality. Both shows prove how French-Swiss co-productions are making waves globally by fusing heritage and modern storytelling.
The Plague: A reimagined classic
Fundamentally, The Plague is a modern retelling of Camus's La Peste, an enormously taught novel for its philosophical richness. The series is set along the French Riviera in 2029, where a mysterious bout of a lethal virus causes extreme lockdowns and the omnipresence of surveillance. The series introduces "Plan D," a government reaction that fuses public health with totalitarianism.
The main character, Professor Rieux, is a resistance voice. Ostracized by the government, he joins forces with ordinary people to tend to the patients and offer some semblance of humanity in a time of chaos. The novel contains classic themes: human solidarity, courage, and moral questions that arise during times of emergency.
By relocating the setting to a world on the brink of the future, it resonates as much literary reimagining as it does a manifestation of current anxieties regarding pandemics and state control.
Creative team and production details
The Plague was created by Siècle Productions and Arezzo Films with the aid of esteemed French production forces. Antoine Garceau directed, and Gilles Taurand and Georges-Marc Benamou wrote, the four 52-minute episodes that comprise the series. It is short enough to be powerful without ever deviating from Camus's own sense of existential struggle.
It first aired on France Télévisions in 2023, where it gave home audiences a revamped translation of the classic novel. Although Camus's book has previously been dramatized, this was unique in that it placed the story in the future and linked it to issues going on today.
That probably made it successful globally, where productions of classic books tend to require some kind of hook to grab new audiences.
Global sales of The Plague
The global sales mirror the continued high demand for programming written in France. A few of the flagship deals are:
- PBS Masterpiece Prime Video in the US.
- TV5 Monde broadcasts to a worldwide French-speaking market.
- RTP, introducing the series to Portuguese-speaking viewers in Southern Europe.
- Previous deals with AMC Networks International Southern Europe for territories such as Spain and Italy.
By achieving distribution in Southern Europe, North America, and the Portuguese-speaking nations, the series depicts the way that a literary French drama is able to find an audience far and wide from the first broadcast.
Winter Palace: Luxury and struggle in the Alps
While The Plague delves into existentialism in contemporary life, Winter Palace takes us back into history. The series takes place in 1899 in the Swiss Alps and is based on the life of André Morel, a successful young entrepreneur who has one grand ambition: to build the first ever five-star luxury hotel in the area that functions throughout the cold winter.
His dream is not without obstacles. He becomes a business partner with an aristocrat to attract visitors, but the harsh winter, an unobliging staff, and arduous high-spending clients challenge his endurance. Aside from the personal narrative, Winter Palace also reflects the social trends of the period, as European elites found new ways of recreation and workers and entrepreneurs spread out, moving economies, especially the elite hospitality industry.
Production and release details for Winter Palace
Produced by Point Prod by Oble, Winter Palace was commissioned by RTS, Switzerland's public broadcaster, and Netflix. Production started later in 2023, and the show is a costly historical drama with Swiss landscapes and European heritage.
Contrasting in theme and tone from The Plague, Winter Palace demonstrates Oble's willingness to create ambitious titles that secure a home market as well as international appeal. With a desire for historical accuracy balanced with a personal curiosity and passion, the series also worked with a hotel historian.
International buyers of the Winter Palace
Just like The Plague, Winter Palace has secured numerous overseas broadcasters. Confirmed deals are:
- Asquith's Walter Hefts U.S. Distribution by PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel.
- RTP in Portugal.
- SBS in Australia, to cover the Asia-Pacific region.
These acquisitions mean that Winter Palace will be seen on three continents, indicating the wide reach of unique period dramas.
The role of the Unifrance Rendez-Vous
Both Winter Palace and The Plague were among the titles that Oble floated in the titles offered during the Unifrance Rendez-Vous TV market in Le Havre. It is an annual event where French producers meet with international broadcasters, providing a focal point to make pre-market purchases and establish long-term co-productions.
The fact that both shows did well in the marketplace means that French-language original programming remains a desirable investment. It also symbolises that European co-productions can stand their ground alongside the best of them in a more internationalized streaming world.
Comparing The Plague and Winter Palace
Though quite different, Winter Palace and The Plague provide a range of French and Swiss television narratives. The former imagines an existential novel written in terms of future health epidemics and political crises, and the latter digs up the origin of Alpine luxury tourism.
Both thus struggle with larger questions: how people react to forces beyond their control. In The Plague, disease and state power; in Winter Palace, nature and society. Their concurrent popularity in foreign territories results in audiences welcoming both period dramas and dystopian reinterpretations if done with robust storytelling and cultural relevance.
Why these sales matter
The foreign sales of Winter Palace and The Plague are no exceptions. They are part of a general trend in which the French-language series are more and more on the global stage. For producers, the deals represent the potential to move out of conventional domestic markets. For broadcasters, the acquisitions inject their programming with content that preserves European literature and is history-based.
With networks and streaming services rushing for original programming, programs as The Plague and Winter Palace are allowed to tour extensively is a testament to the value of taking risks creatively, be it in adapting Camus into the contemporary health care system and politics or reinventing Alpine society early in the twentieth century.
Availability of The Plague and Winter Palace in several territories is another achievement for Oble and French-language fiction as a whole. The Plague remains effective in its readers because of its literary heritage and still-relevant issues today, while Winter Palace attracts readers because of its grand historical narrative.
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Altogether, the two series demonstrate the versatility of French and European drama to break boundaries and provide global audiences with a mix of introspection, history, and cultural awareness. At a time when global broadcasters hunger for diversity and depth, the success of The Plague and Winter Palace demonstrates how European producers can satisfy the demand with imagination and flexibility.
Also read: 10 best period dramas to watch before Bridgerton season 4 arrives
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