Canal+ buys Fox’s Wayward Pines

French pay TV broadcaster Canal+ has become the first international buyer of upcoming M. Night Shyamalan drama Wayward Pines.

The series, which will star Matt Dillon, will go out on the Fox broadcast network in the US.

Fox International Channels has taken all global rights and is planning a simultaneous launch of the show across its services around the world.

FIC is also handling distribution of the show and has got sales underway with the French deal.

The deal was agreed at this week’s LA Screenings. It gives Canal+ exclusive first-window pay TV rights to the show in France. FIC has retained first-window rights in the territories where it has entertainment channels, but it does not have any in France, allowing it to agree the Canal+ deal.

Canal+ will synchronise its transmission of the drama series with the FIC channels, effectively becoming part of the global launch.

Simon Thomas, FIC’s London-based executive VP of content sales said: “On the heels of LA Screenings, this sale is an early indicator of the success it will achieve worldwide. As both the broadcaster and sales arm for the series, we’re thrilled to add such an important market to its global footprint.”

Aline Marrache-Tesseraud, head of the foreign fiction acquisitions department at Canal+ said: “Canal+ will make Wayward Pines available for its subscribers in simulcast with the US broadcast. This acquisition illustrates the strong commitment of Canal+ to TV series prebuys and acquisitions and our continuing strength in the international TV series market.”

The show is based on Blake Crouch’s bestselling novel Wayward Pines. It follows Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke (Dillon) as he travels to Wayward Pines to investigate the disappearance of two missing federal agents.