Series adaptation: RTL+ becomes new home of “Zeit Verbrechen”

Paramount had big plans for its streaming service. But what the then CEO Bob Bakish had to announce to his employees at the beginning of the year, first in a town hall meeting and then in a written memo, no longer fit with the spirit of optimism that had been conveyed up to that point. In order to make the streaming business profitable as quickly as possible, costs urgently needed to be reduced.

International productions suddenly took a back seat as a result of the new strategy – which was not good news for German producers either, especially after Sky’s withdrawal from German fiction. While even previously published series such as “Kohlrabenschwarz”, “Die Chemie des Todes” or “Der Scheich” as well as the German adaptation of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” disappeared from the platform as a result of a cleanup of the library content, the series projects “Turmschatten” and “Zeit Verbrechen”, which had been specifically announced for 2024, were not released.

Strange: The productions by The Amazing Film Company and X Filme Creative Pool had long since been filmed at the time of Paramount’s decision – where they would be shown was also initially completely unclear. In fact, intensive discussions have been held with other platforms and broadcasters in recent months to make the broadcast possible after all. While “Turmschatten” – with a very prominent cast including Heiner Lauterbach and Désirée Nosbusch – recently found a new home at Sky (DWDL.de reported), it was still unclear what the situation was with “Zeitverkrimi”.

In the meantime, however, the deal can also be reported here: According to information from DWDL.de, RTL Germany has acquired the series adaptation of the true crime podcast of the same name and will soon publish it on its streaming platform RTL+. When asked by DWDL.de, RTL confirmed the acquisition. “We are very pleased that we were able to secure the rights to ‘Zeit Verbrechen’ and that the award-winning true crime series will celebrate its streaming premiere in Germany exclusively on RTL+,” said an RTL spokeswoman. When exactly the series will start is not yet known.

Large fan base and first prizes

The first awards that “Zeit Verbrechen” received even before its official release are already providing a boost: In March, shortly after its premiere at the Berlinale, the production was awarded the German Television Crime Prize for best crime series, and this Friday the series’ ensemble will receive the acting award. At the same time, RTL+ is likely to have its eye on the large fan base that has been listening to the podcast for many years. Sabine Rückert, deputy editor-in-chief and long-time court reporter for “Zeit”, launched “Zeit Verbrechen” more than six years ago and shaped it into one of the most successful formats.

Four films have now been made for the fictional adaptation by young directors who are also responsible for the screenplays: Faraz Shariat (“Futur Drei”), Helene Hegemann (“Axolotl Overkill”), Mariko Minoguchi (“Mein Ende. Dein Anfang .”) and Jan Bonny (“Wintermärchen”). The screenplays were partly created in collaboration with authors such as Raquel Dukpa, Paulina Lorenz, Esther Preussler and Jan Eichberg. The four films were produced by Jorgo Narjes (“Wild Republic”) and Uwe Schott (“Babylon Berlin”).

Narjes and Schott want to make their own statements in order to break new ground and “open up unimagined perspectives on the crime genre, as they said at the beginning of last year.” Each of the four films follows its own narrative approach and promises an extraordinary implementation that will not only captivate fans of the podcast.” Only in the future it will no longer be on Paramount+, but on RTL+.