Sky has picked up the UK & Ireland broadcast rights to ‘The Batman’ spin-off series ‘The Penguin‘ starring Colin Farrell.
Starring Farrell as Oswald “Oz” Cobblepot (aka “The Penguin”), the eight-episode DC Studios drama series continues ‘The Batman’ epic crime saga that filmmaker Matt Reeves began with Warner Bros. Pictures’ global blockbuster and centres on the character played by Farrell in the film.
Colin Farrell is just coming off his leading role in the brilliant Apple TV+ crime-noir drama ‘Sugar‘, which sees him play a PI in LA, but with some massive twists. He’s joined in ‘The Penguin’ by Cristin Milioti (‘How I Met Your Mother’, ‘Fargo’), Rhenzy Feliz (‘Encanto’, ‘Runaways’), Michael Kelly (‘Jack Ryan’, ‘House of Cards’), Shohreh Aghdashloo (‘The Expanse’, ’24’), Deirdre O’Connell (‘Outer Range’, ‘The Affair’), Clancy Brown (‘Billions’, ‘Ahsoka’, ‘Gen V’), and Michael Zegen (‘Boardwalk Empire’, ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’).
This marks another major US drama pick-up for Sky, following the announcement that they had acquired the three recent ‘The Walking Dead’ spin-off shows from AMC. They also still have the overall deal for Warner Bros Discovery’s HBO content, such as ‘House of the Dragon’ and ‘The Last of Us’, which is up for renewal at the end of 2025. However, that deal does not cover shows which are made exclusively for WBD’s Max streaming service, so series such as ‘The Penguin’ have to be acquired separately.
“The Penguin is an outstanding addition to our growing comic slate of films and series,” said Lucy Criddle, Sky Director of Acquisitions and Strategic Projects. “With the grimy world of Gotham City amidst chaos, the story continues The Batman epic crime saga and I’m excited to see Farrell take this iconic character to new heights in this eight-part limited drama series.”
Based on characters created for DC by Bob Kane with Bill Finger, ‘The Penguin’ is produced by Reeves’ 6th & Idaho Productions and Dylan Clark Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, where Reeves and 6th & Idaho are under an overall deal. The series is executive-produced by Reeves, Dylan Clark, Farrell, Bill Carraro and Daniel Pipski. Lauren LeFranc (‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’, ‘Chuck’, ‘Impulse’) is writer and showrunner. Craig Zobel (‘Mare of Easttown’, ‘Westworld’, ‘The Leftovers’) directs the first three episodes.
‘The Penguin‘ is due to premiere in Autumn (aka “Fall”) 2024 on Max in the USA, and on Sky Atlantic and streaming service NOW in the UK and Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy. UK comic fans will be able to join in on the global hype, with each episode airing at the same time as the US each week and on demand thereafter. If you want to keep track of this or any other show, you can add it via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date.
