Starz has acquired Rebecca Hall-starring BBC series The Listeners.
Produced by Normal People maker Element Pictures, directed by Janicza Bravo and adapted from the Jordan Tannahill novel, The Listeners follows an English teacher called Claire (Hall) who begins to hear a low humming sound that no one else around her can hear. This seemingly innocuous noise gradually upsets the balance of her life, increasing tension between herself and her husband, Paul (Prasanna Puwanarajah), and daughter, Ashley (Mia Tharia). When she discovers that a student of hers, Kyle (Ollie West), can also hear the sound, the two strike up an unlikely and intimate friendship.
Speaking to Deadline before it premiered at TIFF and launched on the BBC, Hall delved deep into how she got into character and explained why The Listeners is a four-hour movie.
The Listeners aired on the BBC more than a year ago and the Starz deal will be a boon for those seeking evidence that American buyers still want to keep their services populated with British content. The BBC and Starz have partnered in the past on dramas like The Missing and Dublin Murders. Fremantle handles global sales and the deal was brokered by Fremantle’s EVP of Distribution, North America, Lisa Honig, and Lorenzo De Maio of De Maio Entertainment.
“The Listeners pulls viewers in from the start with its unique mystery while provoking questions about how society treats and believes women’s experiences,” said Alison Hoffman, President of Starz Networks. “We’re proud to bring this critically acclaimed project to the U.S. and expand our suite of premium programming for women with this riveting psychological thriller.”
