Amazon’s new video originals include 'The Power' and a FIFA scandal
The director of 'The Handmaid's Tale' will helm the adaptation of the sci-fi bestseller.
In a bid to counter Netflix's aggressive overseas expansion, Amazon has ordered a raft of international content for its Prime Video subscription service. Of the 20 shows on its 2019 slate, 17 are new originals, according to Variety. They include a British adaptation of author Naomi Alderman's feminist sci-fi novel The Power to be co-produced and directed by Reed Morano -- who helmed Hulu's Emmy-winning The Handmaid's Tale and recently inked an overall deal with Amazon.
Meanwhile Chile's Pablo Larraín, the Oscar-winning director of Jackie and A Fantastic Woman, will produce a true crime series based on the events behind the 2015 "FIFA Gate" corruption scandal. And Prime Video is also getting some lighter fare courtesy of a Japanese version of reality show The Bachelorette.
Like Netflix before it, Amazon is eyeing India's mobile-centric viewers, with six out of the 20 new and returning shows hailing from the region. Among them is supernatural thriller series The Last Hour, which counts Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Asif Kapadia (Amy, Senna) as an exec-producer. Another five shows come from Mexico, including an untitled sci-fi comedy-horror mash-up from the producers of Narcos.
Amazon is also making sure the creators of its Golden Globe and Emmy-winning show The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel stay put. As part of a new overall deal, Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino will develop shows exclusively for Prime Video, reports Deadline.
