There have never been more series productions than this year: In the coming Monday dozens of new shows and sequels will start on streaming providers such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV +, Disneyplus and TVNow. The industry celebrated this week in Cannes. The best productions were awarded at the Cannes Series Festival. Many actresses and actors from all over the world came and celebrated the industry.
Special attention was paid to one couple: Dominique Devenport and Jannik Schümann. The Swiss and the Hamburger play the main role in “Sisi”. 64 years after Romy Schneider was seen in the last part of the cult trilogy “Sissi – Fateful Years of an Empress”, the TV station RTL dares to remake the popular material. For the streaming service TVNow, the Cologne-based company developed a six-part series that will be shown at the end of the year. Over four months the film was shot in Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Hungary and finally in Germany.
The Würzburg residence served as a backdrop for the eight million euro production, as did the Berchtesgadener Land. The event series takes a new look at the life of Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, known as Sisi, who made history as empress and became a legend as a film character. The audience will have to get used to a completely new and modern Sisi – and a new face.
The Swiss Dominique Devenport slips into the role of the young empress. Jannik Schümann, known from Charité, embodies Emperor Franz. The supporting roles are also top-class: Désirée Nosbusch can be seen as Archduchess Sophie, Franz’s mother. Also in the main cast: Tanja Schleiff (role: Countess Esterhazy), Paula Kober (Fanny), Julia Stemberger (Sisi’s mother, Duchess Ludovica in Bavaria), David Korbmann (Graf Grünne), Pauline Rénevier (Duchess Helene “Néné” in Bavaria, Sisi’s sister), Yasmani Stambader (Lajos Farkas), Giovanni Funiati (Count Andrassy) and Marcus Grüsser (Sisi’s father, Duke Max in Bavaria).
Christmas 2021 will be a “Sissi” and “Sisi” double pack. First the originals in the first, then the remake on TVNow. But it gets even better for fans: Netflix will also dedicate itself to the subject: In spring 2022, “The Empress”, another Sisi film, will be shown. Sisi mania on all channels.