SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon Prime Video and ITV today announced it has greenlit The Widow, an eight-episode Prime Original and ITV series, starring Kate Beckinsale (The Aviator, Love & Friendship). Written and executive produced by Harry and Jack Williams (The Missing, Fleabag) and produced by Williams’ Two Brothers Pictures, The Widow follows Georgia Wells (Beckinsale) who has cut herself off from her previous life and is no longer the woman she once was. After seeing her “late” husband on the news, she is pulled back to face the world and will stop at nothing until she gets the truth about her past. This emotionally gut-wrenching thriller will take Georgia into the depths of the African Congo where danger and revelation will greet her at every turn.
The Widow will be produced by Eliza Mellor (Liar, The Living and the Dead, Poldark), directed by Sam Donovan (Humans, Liar, Utopia) and Olly Blackburn (Donkey Punch, Glue), and distributed globally by all3media International. The series will commence production this month in South Africa, Wales and Rotterdam. The Widow will premiere on ITV in the UK and on Prime Video in the US and more than 200 countries and territories.
“We are thrilled to continue our existing relationship with Kate Beckinsale on the heels of her incredible performances in Amazon Studios’ critically acclaimed films,” said Brad Beale, Vice President, Worldwide TV Content Acquisition, Amazon Prime Video. “Harry and Jack Williams have created a powerful story, which will be brought to life by one of the world’s most talented actresses, and we are excited to bring this thrilling series to Prime members around the world.”
“I’m delighted to announce Kate Beckinsale’s casting in The Widow,” said ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill. “She is perfect for the role of Georgia in what is, as always, brilliant, compelling and surprising storytelling from Harry and Jack Williams. We’re very pleased to have secured the series which is an ITV original commission and co-production with Amazon.”
“Kate Beckinsale is a brilliantly talented actress and we’re thrilled she’s joining us on this journey – we couldn’t imagine anyone more perfect for the role,” added Harry and Jack Williams. “The Widow is our most ambitious and cinematic piece to date and we can’t wait to bring the dark heart of the Congolese jungle to the screen.”
Kate Beckinsale has proven to be one of the industry’s most versatile and charismatic performers. Beckinsale recently wrapped production on Farming, the directorial debut from Nigerian-British writer-director Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, opposite Damson Idris and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. She most recently starred in the Marc Webb drama The Only Living Boy in New York opposite Jeff Bridges, Callum Turner, and Kiersey Clemons, which was released by Amazon Studios on August 11. Prior to that, she starred in Amazon Studios’ comedy Love & Friendship, directed by Whit Stillman and based on Jane Austen’s novel Lady Susan, for which she won the Evening Standard Award, the London Film Critics Circle Award and was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award for her performance. She is also known for her starring role in Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator.
Harry and Jack Williams began their writing partnership in 2007 with the BBC2 sitcom Roman’s Empire, starring Mathew Horne and Chris O’Dowd. The show was subsequently piloted for American television, with Kelsey Grammer in the lead. For the UK they wrote and produced pilots and series including The Amazing Dermot, Bamboo, Full English and The Guardians (which they also directed). In 2014, Harry and Jack wrote and executive produced BBC1’s Golden Globe and Emmy nominated drama The Missing. The series, which starred James Nesbitt, was also nominated for four BAFTAs, including Best Drama. Since setting up Two Brothers Pictures in 2014, Harry and Jack have produced shows for Amazon, HBO, AMC, BBC, ITV and Sky, including the award-winning hit comedy Fleabag.
The Widow will be available on Prime Video to stream and Prime members can also download the series to mobile devices for offline viewing at no additional cost to their membership. The series will be available in more than 200 countries and territories for Prime members to watch via the Prime Video app for popular smart TVs, Fire TV, Fire Tablets and Android and iOS phones and tablets. Customers who are not already Prime members can sign up for a free 30-day trial at amazon.com/prime. For a list of all Amazon Video compatible devices, visit www.amazon.com/howtostream.
About Amazon Video
Amazon Video is a premium on-demand entertainment service that offers customers the greatest choice in what to watch and how to watch it. Amazon Video is the only service that provides all of the following:
- Prime Video: Thousands of movies and TV shows, including popular licensed content plus critically-acclaimed and award-winning Amazon Original Series and Movies from Amazon Studios like Transparent, The Man in the High Castle, Love & Friendship, and kids series Tumble Leaf, available for unlimited streaming as part of an Amazon Prime membership. Prime Video is also now available to customers in more than 200 countries and territories around the globe at www.primevideo.com.
- Amazon Channels: Over 140 channel subscriptions that Prime members can add to their membership, including HBO, SHOWTIME, STARZ, Cinemax, PBS KIDS, Acorn TV and more. To view the full list of channels available, visit www.amazon.com/channels.
- Rent or Own: Hundreds of thousands of titles, including new release movies and current TV shows available for on-demand rental or purchase for all Amazon customers.
- Instant Access: Customers can instantly watch anytime, anywhere through the Amazon Video app on compatible TVs, mobile devices, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, and Fire tablets, or online. For a list of all compatible devices, visit www.amazon.com/howtostream.
- Premium Features: Top features like 4K Ultra HD, High Dynamic Range (HDR) and mobile downloads for offline viewing of select content.
In addition to Prime Video, the Prime membership includes unlimited fast free shipping options across all categories available on Amazon, more than two million songs and thousands of playlists and stations with Prime Music, secure photo storage with Prime Photos, unlimited reading with Prime Reading, unlimited access to a digital audiobook catalog with Audible Channels for Prime, a rotating selection of free digital games and in-game loot with Twitch Prime, early access to select Lightning Deals, exclusive access and discounts to select items, and more. To sign-up for Prime or to find out more, visit: www.amazon.com/prime.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
About ITV
ITV is an integrated producer broadcaster and the largest commercial television network in the UK. It is the home of popular television from the biggest entertainment events, to original drama, major sport, landmark factual series and independent news. It operates a family of channels including ITV, ITVBe, ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 and CITV, which are broadcast free-to-air, as well as the pay channel ITV Encore. ITV is also focused on delivering its programming via the ITV Hub, mobile devices, video on demand and third party platforms. ITV Studios is a global production business, creating and selling programmes and formats from offices in the UK, US, Australia, France, Germany, the Nordics and the Netherlands. It is the largest and most successful commercial production company in the UK, the largest independent non-scripted indie in the US and ITV Studios Global Entertainment is a leading international distribution business.
Global demand for high-quality content from both broadcasters and platform owners remains strong. Capitalising on this demand, ITV continues to strengthen its position as the UK's largest commercial production company, as well as creating an increasingly international production business with bases in America, the Netherlands, France, Germany, the Nordics and Australia.
Growing a scaled international content business in the key genres that travel is central to ITV's strategy as an integrated producer broadcaster. As the company creates, owns and manages more content, its channels and digital services provide a platform to showcase its programmes before distributing them across multiple platforms in the UK and internationally.
About all3media international
all3media international distributes popular, award-winning TV programmes to over 1,000 broadcasters and media platforms around the world.
The company has been celebrated for producing, marketing and distributing quality, ground-breaking and pioneering shows to a global audience – consistently topping the Broadcast and Televisual annual Indies Surveys and we have been awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in recognition of our growth – twice.
Our catalogue contains over 8,500 hours of content across all genres, with a focus on drama, comedy, factual, entertainment and formats. As well as Britain’s top-selling series Midsomer Murders, our lead dramas include National Treasure, The Missing, Clique, Safe House, Indian Summers, Liar and Hinterland. Our contemporary comedy slate features Fleabag and GameFace. Factual, entertainment and format bestsellers include Gogglebox, Undercover Boss, Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, The Gadget Show and The Cube.
As part of the UK’s leading multi-label studio we partner with UK and international producers – including our own studios – in developing, financing and delivering content and formats.
