News round-up: Netflix boards ‘Family Feud SA’ S2; ‘Gomorrah’ heads to Hollywood Suite; Discovery+ orders Depp vs Heard doc

Family Feud South Africa

Netflix boards ‘Family Feud SA’ S2

Netflix has boarded the second season of Family Feud South Africa.

The gameshow, which premiered its first season on South Africa’s eTV, will now also return on the global streamer, bringing the format to 44 new countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The 26-part season will see more competing teams, each consisting of five family members, battling it out by guessing the most popular answers to survey questions in the hope of winning cash prizes.

The format is distributed internationally by Fremantle, while Steve Harvey, who has hosted the US version of Family Feud since 2010, acquired the rights to bring the format to South Africa and Ghana in 2019.

“I am ecstatic that Netflix has partnered with us for a second season such that Family Feud South Africa will be made available to viewers across the continent,” said Harvey.

Gomorrah

‘Gomorrah’ heads to Hollywood Suite

Hollywood Suite has become the exclusive English Canadian home for the Italian crime drama series Gomorrah.

The first three seasons of the show will land on-demand on the service on 1 December, with the Gomorrah feature film The Immortal and seasons four and five to follow in the new year.

Based on Roberto Saviano’s book, the Naples-set crime drama paints a portrait of the Neapolitan crime organisation the Camorra.

The HBO Max/Sky Italia series  is produced by ITV Studios’ Cattleya in collaboration with Beta Film.

It is executive produced by Cattleya’s Riccardo Tozzi, Gina Gardini, Giovanni Stabilini and Marco Chimenz as well as by Nils Hartman and Sonia Rovai for Sky and developed by Stefano Bises, Leonardo Fasoli and Roberto Saviano.

“The success of series such as Squid Game and Money Heist have demonstrated an appetite for bingeable programming from across the globe,” said Sharon Stevens, VP Programming, Hollywood Suite.

“We are excited to bring Gomorrah to audiences and further drive the introduction of top-tier international product into the Canadian marketplace.”

Discovery+ orders Depp vs Heard doc

Discovery+ has commissioned a two-part documentary exploring the breakdown of the relationship of actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard.

Produced by Optomen, Johnny vs Amber explores how the couple’s public split became one of the biggest celebrity court cases of the decade, and will be available to watch on Discovery+ this autumn.

In 2016, Amber Heard filed for a divorce from Johnny Depp, which absorbed the attention of their loyal fans. Accusations of abuse shook the press headlines and their fans. From Heard securing a restraining order against Depp, through to leaked evidence of alleged domestic violence, the situation quickly escalated to Depp suing the UK’s The Sun newspaper for portraying him as a ‘wife-beater’.

The two-parter hears from lawyers involved on both sides, as well as testimony from those close to the pair and extensive footage and audio recordings filmed by the couple themselves.