TNT Africa to debut movie catalogue

WarnerMedia-owned regional pay TV broadcaster TNT Africa is gearing up to launch its first slate of original productions on July 4.

The channel’s line-up will feature a slate of new movies produced or acquired by Particular Crowd, Turner Latin America’s original movie company, which was launched earlier this year.

The pan-African channel will premiere Escape From Pretoria, a true-life story of Tim Jenkin (played by Daniel Radcliffe) and Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber).

The young, white South Africans were branded ‘terrorists’ for working covert operations for Nelson Mandela’s banned party ANC. Incarcerated in Pretoria Central Prison’s maximum-security wing in 1978, they decide to send the apartheid regime a clear message by escaping.

Other titles include Buffaloed, directed by Tanya Wexler; Human Capital, a thriller starring Liev Schreiber and directed by Marc Meyers; and Guns Akimbo, also starring Harry Potter star Radcliffe.

Guillermo Farré, head of general entertainment channels at WarnerMedia Africa, said: “With this launch, we are expanding our TNT Africa’s channel offering. We’ve been extremely successful with our selection of American blockbusters to become the second most-watched movie channel in South Africa.

“We’re always obsessed with creating unique experiences for our fans, and with the new TNT Original Movies, we’re providing our audiences with an exciting, wide-ranging and consistent flow of high-quality programming across all genres. Our subsidiary Particular Crowd’s creators bring it all, building a slate of originals that is nothing short of amazing, aligned with international standards.

“Escape From Pretoria will resonate with the local audience while acting as a hook to introduce the new editorial strategy of TNT Original Movies. The race-against-time thriller, with an international cast, is exciting and captivating. We think this is timely wherein the current climate staying at home is our new routine.”