London-based Headline Pictures (“Kin”) and French banner Itineraire Productions (“Oussekine”) are set to produce together “Who Killed Lady Di?,” a drama mini-series set in the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death in Paris in 1997.
The series re-teams Itineraire Productions with Julien Lilti, the up-and-coming creator and screenwriter of Disney Plus Star’s original series “Oussekine” and Canal Plus hit show “Hyppocrates.” Lilti is writing the scripts for “Who Killed Lady Di” with the collaboration of Martine Monteil, who led the criminal investigation division of the French police at the time of Diana Spencer’s death.
Princess Diana died alonside Dodi Fayed, the Egyptian film producer, in a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel following a high-speed pursuit with paparazzi. Through multiple perspectives, the series will shed light on the challenging investigation and the wild conspiracies that emerged around the world in the wake of the tragedy.
“Martine Monteil fought to uncover the truth, she was even nicknamed “Mlle Maigret”,” said Pierre Laugier, co-founder of Itineraire Productions which is, like Headline Pictures, backed by UGC Series.
Blurring fiction and historical facts, the series will follow a French investigator and a British fan of Princess Diana who creates a blog “Who Killed Lady Di?” “This one the first major cultural event that went viral and spurred an avalanche of fake news and even a wave of suicides,” pointed out Laugier, adding that “the late 1990’s marked the beginning of online tabloids.”
Christian Baute, Headline Pictures’ executive producer, said: “‘Who Killed Lady Di?’ will highlight the fabrication of the first large-scale conspiracy theory — it was a watershed moment which which changed the media perception of how to broadcast and disseminate news.”
Baute, who started working with Laugier on the project after running into him at the headquarters of UGC Studios in Paris, said the series will show the “fascinating behind-the-scene” of the investigation and media frenzy around it. “Americans have JFK and Marilyn Monroe, and we have Princess Diana, they’re of equal importance,” he added.
Baute and Laugier are attending Series Mania and pitching the project to potential partners. Headline Pictures previously delivered the Emmy-winning drama series “The Man in the High Castle” for Amazon Prime, as well as the Irish crime thriller “Kin” for RTE and AMC, and “Ten Percent”, the remake of the French TV hit series “Call My Agent!” which is set to premiere on Amazon Prime and AMC Plus next month. Both are produced with Bron Studios.
Itinéraire Productions, meanwhile, is behind “HPI,” the popular cop TV series starring Audrey Fleurot (“Intouchables”), as well Disney Star Plus’ first French original scripted mini-series, “Oussekine” which is inspired by the true story of Malik Oussekine, a victim of police brutality in France.
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