“1899” is a new multilingual series by the creators of “Dark” for Netflix. The creators have a three season plan.
So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about the new series.
- 1899 is a multilingual German epic period mystery-science fiction streaming television series
- The series is created by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar
- It premiered on Netflix on 17 November 2022
- It has received mostly positive critical reviews
- With praise going towards the casting, directing, cinematography, and acting
- Though the pacing was occasionally criticized as too slow
- The creators have ideas for two more seasons
- Set in 1899, the series follows a group of European migrants travelling from London on a steamship named Kerberos to start new lives in New York City
- On 13 November 2018, it was announced that Dark creators Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar were developing the project for Netflix under their overall deal at the streaming service
- The series was confirmed to be moving forward two weeks later during a Netflix press conference showcasing European original programming
- By July 2020, bo Odar revealed via Instagram that Friese had completed writing the script for the pilot episode, titled “The Ship”
- During an interview with Deadline Hollywood, Friese explained how the European migrant crisis and Brexit were influential to the series
- As with Dark, Friese served as the head writer of the show
- The staff writing team comprised writers of different nationalities including Emma Ko (from Hong Kong and the UK), Coline Abert (from France), Jerome Bucchan-Nelson (from the UK), Juliana Lima Dehne (from Brazil and the US), Joshua Long (from the US), Darío Madrona (from Spain), and Emil Nygaard Albertsen (from Denmark)
- According to director Baran bo Odar, all scripts were first written in English, then the non-English sections were translated by the staff writers and/or translators
- Odar had phonetic copies of the script on set, and language assistants were present during filming to ensure the accuracy of the non-English dialogue
- Friese and bo Odor have ideas for two more seasons, with increased complexity compared to season 1
- The planned three-season structure stems from Friese’s and bo Odar’s film background, where films have three acts
- The first season served to establish the theme and characters and pose big questions
- If ordered by Netflix, the second season would explain the symbology of the triangles, and Maura’s brother would be an important character
- bo Odar described this second act as “all about the fun and games, where you play with the theme, and maybe get a little bit more megalomaniacal and crazy, and then resolve it in the third season into a hopefully satisfying resolution”
- The budget for the series was at least €60 million ($62.2 million)
- With €2 million coming from Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, €10 million coming from the German Motion Picture Fund and Netflix investing €48 million in the project
- 1899 is the most expensive German television series of all time
- On 16 December 2020, it was announced that Emily Beecham was cast in the lead role
- On 2 May 2021, Aneurin Barnard, Andreas Pietschmann, Miguel Bernardeau, Maciej Musiał, Anton Lesser, Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen, Rosalie Craig, Clara Rosager, Maria Erwolter, Yann Gael, Mathilde Ollivier, José Pimentão, Isabella Wei, Gabby Wong, Jonas Bloquet, Fflyn Edwards, and Alexandre Willaume were added to the cast
- With each character speaking in the actor’s native language
- Pre-production for the series officially commenced on 24 November 2020, with a week-long lens test shoot taking place
- The series was initially scheduled to begin principal photography on 1 February 2021
- But was later pushed back by 3 months
- Filming officially began on 3 May 2021 at Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam, the only designated UNESCO Creative City of Film in Germany
- The series was shot in a new virtual production stage called Volume, operated by bo Odar and Friese’s sister company Dark Bay, at Studio Babelsberg
- Filming also took place in London, United Kingdom
- Creative studio Framestore provided visual effects for the series
- Filming wrapped in November 2021 with Baran bo Odar posting on Instagram
- 1899 had a two-episode premiere on 47th Toronto International Film Festival on 12 September 2022
- The series launched on Netflix on 17 November 2022
- Along with a companion making-of documentary titled Making 1899
- Netflix announced a few days after release, that 1899 was in 58 countries the most watched product of all the offerings available on Netflix at that time
- On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 80% approval rating
- Based on 25 reviews
- With an average rating of 6.80/10
- The website’s critical consensus states, “1899 navigates its multicultural passengers through an atmospheric mystery and delivers a suspenseful journey, even if it may never reach a satisfying destination”
- On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the series has a score of 66 out of 100
- Based on 12 critic reviews, indicating “generally favorable reviews”
