A new Irish dark comedy-crime drama, Obituary, from Ireland’s Magamedia and France/UK’s APC Studios, has been exclusively confirmed in the US for streaming service, Hulu.
The six-part series will be led by rising Irish actress Siobhán Cullen (The Bright Side, The Dry), who stars as Elvira Clancy, an obituarist working at a small-town newspaper, who suddenly finds herself being paid by the obituary due to cuts.
According to Deadline, “when she (Elvira) “accidentally” kills a nasty piece of work, she discovers she might have an untapped bloodlust, and sets her sights on other unpleasant residents of the town. Her killing spree hits a potential snag when the paper hires an attractive crime correspondent”.
Obituary is written by Irish writer Ray Lawlor (Le Ceangal), directed by John Hayes (Dublin Murders), and produced by Nell Green (The Outfit, The Undeclared War). Paddy Hayes of Magamedia and APC Studios’ Laurent Boissel feature as executive producers on the series, which is made with support from Screen Ireland, WRAP Fund, and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.
Continuing on a recent acquisitions trend, the series has already been pre-bought by RTÉ, who also previously purchased Irish broadcasting rights to Element Pictures’ Normal People and Conversation With Friends from Hulu and BBC Three.
“It has been a blast pitching this wonderful high-concept drama to various funders and broadcast partners over the past few years — an obituarist who resorts to murder to stay in a job,” Boissel and Hayes told Deadline, in a joint statement. “We’re genuinely thrilled that Hulu and RTE are already on board and it’s super exciting to be bringing it into production now in the West of Ireland.”
Obituary will begin filming in Ireland next year, and once production is complete, the series will exclusively premiere on Hulu in the U.S. later in 2023. The series is the latest Irish drama to attract U.S. investment, following the news last month that Lionsgate has boarded TG4 and Streamz drama series Northern Lights.
Cullen recently wrapped on filming for Netflix thriller Bodkin, which shot down in West Cork and marks the first scripted TV series being produced by the Obamas’ production company, Higher Ground (Crip Camp, Our Great National Parks). Siobhan also received acclaimed for her performance alongside Ralph Fiennes in Straight Line Crazy at The Bridge Theatre.
Galway-based Magamedia is best know for projects such as Irish Oscar entry Foscadh starring Dónall Ó Héalai, IFTA winning TV drama Corp + Anam starring Maria Doyle Kennedy, and the teen musical comedy-drama, EIPIC.
