History has closed a deal with ITV Studios Global Entertainment to acquire the exclusive first run UK broadcast rights to miniseries Texas Rising, TVWise has learned. The ten hour mini, which was originally produced for the US History network, will premiere on History UK on Tuesday January 5th at 10pm.
Texas Rising is set in Texas in 1836. Crushed from the outside by Mexican armadas and attacked from within by ferocious Comanche tribes, no one was safe. But this was a time of bravery, a time to die for what you believed in and a time to stand tall against the cruel rule of the Mexican General Santa Anna. From General Sam Houston, to rag tag Rangers to the legendary “Yellow Rose of Texas” – this is a story of the human spirit rising in the face of insurmountable odds and claiming a piece of history for all eternity.
Bill Paxton (Hatfields & McCoys) leads the cast as Sam Houston, the father of Texas. Other cast members include Brendan Fraser (The Mummy), Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Magic City), Thomas Jane (Hung), Olivier Martinez (Before Night Falls), Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill), Michael Rapaport (Boston Public) and Max Thieriot (Bates Motel).
The 10 hour mini, which aired state-side earlier this year, was penned by Leslie Grief, Darrell Fetty & George Nihil and produced by Hatfield & McCoys indie Thinkfactory Media, History’s sister studio A+E Studios and ITV Studios America. Writer Leslie Greif also served as an executive producer alongside Dirk Hoogstra, Elaine Frontain Bryant and Julian P. Hobbs; while The Killing Fields helmer Roland Joffé directed.
This is a rare outside deal for History UK, who tend to get the lion’s share of their programming through a formal output deal with A&E Studios. It is by no means the only third party deal History has struck of late for scripted drama, however, with the A+E Networks UK backed channel having previously agreed a life-of-series deal with Starz Worldwide Distribution for linear rights to pirate drama Black Sails. They struck a similar deal with MGM for second window on Vikings.
