Lifetime, A&E Network and History have signed on to air the “War and Peace” miniseries from Weinstein Co. and the BBC.
The limited series will be simulcast on all three cablers next year. Paul Dano, Lily James, Gillian Anderson, James Norton, Jim Broadbent and others are on board to star in Leo Tolstoy’s sweeping saga of 19th century Russia.
Weinstein Co. is producing with BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Worldwide/Lookout Point.
The three A+E Networks cablers have increasingly been teaming on simulcasts for major original series productions. “War and Peace” is one of several high-profile productions that will be touted by the cable group at Thursday night’s upfront presentation.
Also announced at the upfront, a new unscripted series for A&E, “Fit 2 Fat 2 Fit,” which follows 10 personal trainers who will eat what the average overweight American eats and stop working out altogether. Then, each trainer will team up with an overweight for a weight loss journey.
“Sing It,” an a cappella docuseries, is coming to Lifetime. The series will follow two cross-town rival groups from New Jersey, as they are given a chance to work with the world’s best coaches, Deke Sharon (“Pitch Perfect”) and Diana Preisler (SingStrong’s AcaIdol), and face off in weekly competitions. The project hails from Studio Lambert Associates and All3Media America, in association with InsomniaTV.
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Shiri Appleby and Constance Zimmer of Lifetime’s upcoming series “UnReal,” which debuts June 1, introduced Nancy Dubuc, president and CEO of A+E Networks, at the presentation.
“My focus, even before becoming CEO, has always been memorable and unique content. And one of the most important things we did to reinforce that was create A+E Studios, giving us more flexibility and opportunity to be creative, not only with our programming, but with your proximity to it wherever it’s seen,” said Dubuc, giving a nod to “UnReal,” the first-ever scripted series to come from the studio. “It is emblematic of everything we wanted the studio to produce… smart, differentiated and well-told stories.”
Dubuc added, “I am also happy to announce the studio has over 40 projects in various states of production already.”