Yellow Bird ‘s psycho-thriller Sanctuary was sold to Spain, Portugal, Russia and Black Spark Film & TV’s Moscow Noir to Latin America. The deals were announced on Wednesday by the Paris-based global distributor as part of a raft of international sales packages.

HBO Europe picked up Iberian rights to the 8x45’ series Sanctuary starring Matthew Modine and Josefin Asplund, while Russia’s Amedia TV bought it for its streaming service Amediateka.

The series toplined Studiocanal’s slate of 12 new titles at the last MIPTV. Executive MD, TV series Françoise Guyonnet said the Swedish/Italian/German co-production is ‘the perfect example of what Studiocanal stands for: ‘a global content provider of high-end European premium dramas that travels worldwide’."

The series is produced by the experienced Yellow Bird, based on a best-selling book [Marie Hermanson’s The Devil’s Sanctuary], adapted by UK writer Charlie Fletcher, with an A-list cast and top broadcasters attached: C More/TV4, TMG, and our Polish partner NC+. "The thriller is full of twists, set against a breath-taking Alpine landscape,” stressed Guyonnet to nordicfilmandtvnews.com.

Sanctuary will premiere on C More May 30 and on TV4 Sweden in August. Meanwhile Moscow Noir (8x60’) directed by Mikael Håfström from Camilla Grebe and Paul Leander-Engström’s book trilogy, was sold to HBO Latin America. The Swedish thriller premiered on C More at Christmas 2018.

Studiocanal also reported sales to Israel’s Yes-DBS of the Danish drama series Pros and Cons, Swedish thriller The Lawyer and UK drama Years and Years. The latter attracted ‘unprecedented interest’ at MIPTV and was also snapped by HBO Europe, HBO Latin America and BBC Benelux.