Sky is to release over 125 new Sky Originals over the next 12 months, as the pay-TV platform looks to maintain its position against streaming services Netflix and Amazon Prime.
It’s the biggest-ever line up of Original TV and film titles to be announced by the broadcaster. They’ll be screened on Sky and sister streaming platform Now TV.
30 Sky Original films will be added to Sky Cinema, while there are also 30 new Sky Original documentaries. Sky is promising at least two new original films every month and this is set to rise to one a week from next year.
Its doing so through a mix of British and US films featuring some of the biggest stars with Judi Dench, Eddie Izzard, Hugh Bonneville, Keeley Hawes, Michael Caine, Lena Headley, Rita Ora, Raff Law, Patrick Stewart, Meera Syal, Andy Serkis, Noel Clarke, Maggie Smith, Kristen Wiig, Samantha Morton, Jonathan Pryce, Jim Broadbent, Morgan Freeman, Robert DeNiro, Alicia Vikander, Julianne Moore, Allison Janey, Mila Kunis, Juliette Lewis, Fiona Shaw, Kate Beckinsale and Stanley Tucci, amongst others.
Film titles include A Boy Called Christmas, the origin story of Father Christmas, re-imagined in Gil Keenan’s live action adaptation of Matt Haig’s best-selling novel, and family favourites such as Extinct and Monster Family 2.
Sky Original documentaries include an exploration of how Liverpool became the epicentre of a drugs boom (Liverpool Narcos), a revealing look at newly discovered footage from the Chernobyl disaster (Chernobyl 86), and a forensic examination of the case of Jeremy Bamber and the White House Farm Murders (The Bambers: Murder at the Farm), executive produced by Louis Theroux and Aaron Fellows.
Sky is also looking to repeat the success of BAFTA-winning mini-series Chernobyl and Patrick Melrose through four new series from acclaimed TV writers Paul Abbott (Shameless, No Offence) with Wolfe David Farr (The Night Manager) with The Midwich Cuckoos and Joe Barton (Giri/Haji, The Batman) with Extinction and Michael Winterbottom (Welcome to Sarajevo, Wonderland and 24 Hour Party People) with This Sceptred Isle
“This year on Sky and NOW TV we’ve got an epic variety of entertainment for everyone, adding a brand-new slate of Sky Original films and Sky Original documentaries to our line-up of award-winning drama, comedy, entertainment and arts series,” said Zai Bennett, Managing Director, Content, Sky UK & Ireland.
Sky is committed to more than double its investment in original content by 2024. Work is underway on Sky Studios Elstree, a new state-of-the-art TV and film studio in North London, which is set to be the most sustainable in the world when it opens in 2022.
While Sky Q is already host to the UK’s three largest streaming services Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+, the announcement makes clear that the broadcaster will maintain its reputation as a content provider as well as a distributor.
