The Foxtel remake of Picnic at Hanging Rock has made a firm landing at the international television market Mipcom, in Cannes, France. The program, which will star Natalie Dormer, Yael Stone, Anna McGahan and Lily Sullivan, is a remake based on the iconic Australian novel of the same name by Joan Lindsay. Fremantle confirmed a deal for the series with French broadcaster Canal+, a premium content platform whose schedule has included critically acclaimed US programs such as Damages, Mad Men, The Shield, Six Feet Under and Game of Thrones. Fremantle's head of European sales Al De Azpiazu described the project as a "spellbinding adaptation of a classic novel".

Maverick honoured

The television executive David Lyle, who died last month, will be honoured at the Realscreen Summit in January. Lyle, who worked in Australia and the US in a number of positions at high-profile broadcasters and production entities, was ultimately best known for his prominence in the field of unscripted content. Lyle will be honoured at the event with a posthumous Legacy Award; he will also have a new award named in his honour, The David Lyle Maverick Award, which will acknowledge innovative programming. The first Lyle Award will be handed out in 2019. Realscreen will be held in Washington DC in January, 2018.

Ruthless as a man

The US film actress Catherine Zeta-Jones was in Cannes for Mipcom to spruik her new television project, Cocaine Godmother. The telemovie, in which she plays female drug lord Griselda Blanco, was unveiled to program buyers at the annual television market. "Griselda spans so many emotions and so many layers but she has no redeemable qualities," Zeta-Jones said in Cannes. "This woman was as ruthless as powerful as dangerous as any man in this very dark world." The project is directed by Guillermo Navarro from a script by David McKenna. Zeta-Jones said she was open to new TV projects: "We're [all] along on this fantastic creative roller-coaster," she said.

Irwins return to Animal Planet

Terri, Bindi and Robert Irwin have signed a deal which will put them back on Animal Planet, the channel which launched Bindi and Robert's dad Steve Irwin two decades ago. The deal, which was announced at Mipcom, includes development of new series for the channel and positions the Irwins as "global ambassadors" for the brand. In the early 1990s Animal Planet launched the series that made Steve Irwin a star, The Crocodile Hunter; Irwin died in 2006 after a stingray injury to the heart. "Steve was a champion for all wildlife and we are thrilled to have Terri, Bindi and Robert back in the family," Animal Planet's general manager Patrice Andrews said.