Eleven years ago, writer Charlie Brooker teamed with director Yann Demange for the five episode mini-series Dead Set (pictured above), which imagined what would happen to Big Brother UK contestants during a zombie outbreak. Now Netflix is moving the concept from the UK to Brazil for a series titled Reality Z.
The first collaboration between Netflix and Brazilian production company Conspiração, Reality Z is currently filming and stars Guilherme Weber, Jesus Luz, Ana Hartmann, Emilio de Mello, Carla Ribas, Luellem de Castro, Ravel Andrade, and Sabrina Sato.
A combination of horror, humor, and pop culture, the first season of Reality Z will consist of five episodes. The story is about
a zombie apocalypse that imprisons participants and producers of a reality show called Olimpo, The House of the Gods, during its elimination night. The studio becomes a shelter for those who seek salvation in Rio de Janeiro, where chaos and hopelessness begin to rule.
Cláudio Torres wrote the scripts with João Costa. He's also sharing directing duties with Rodrigo Monte and executive producing the series with Renata Brandão.
Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos had this to say about the show:
The combination of Cláudio Torres’ creative vision, our partnership with Conspiração and the talent involved in this project will make this adaptation of Charlie Brooker’s hilarious series Dead Set a truly special event for horror fans around the world. What is even more exciting for us is that these carioca zombies form part of the slate of 30 original series and films from Brazil premiering through 2020."
Brooker has visited the set of Reality Z and said,
It’s incredible to see the ways in which Torres has reimagined this series, setting it in a city as iconic as Rio and tapping into Brazilian pop culture in such a sharp way."
Torres said,
My challenge was to turn a five-part anthology miniseries into a series that can unfold into many seasons without losing the spirit, humor and social critique that Charlie conceived in the original Dead Set. For a fantastic movie fan, directing the first Brazilian zombie series is a gift that Netflix gave me."
Reality Z will be available to watch on the Netflix streaming service sometime in 2020.
I have a personal connection to Brazil so I'm always interested in checking out the genre entertainment that comes out of the country. I'll be watching Reality Z for sure.